Department for Transport

Driving Licences: Digital Technology

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with representatives of (a) Apple and (b) other mobile phone businesses on phone based digital driving licences.

Mr Richard Holden: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency held a supplier day in June 2022 with suppliers to gauge market interest. Around thirty companies took part, Apple was not present.

Roads: Safety

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department will publish its road safety strategic framework.

Mr Richard Holden: The Road Safety Strategic Framework will be published in due course.

Highway Code

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will commission a publicity campaign about the new Highway Code guidance.

Mr Richard Holden: We will continue to promote recent changes to The Highway Code on THINK! social media channels and via our partner organisation, as well as look to support with further campaign activity in future.

Public Transport: Finance

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will increase funding for public transport services.

Mr Richard Holden: Public transport plays a key role in supporting several Government policy areas including decarbonisation, levelling up and growth. I was delighted to visit Gateshead recently to launch the Get Around for £2 bus fare cap. We are also pushing ahead with the National Bus Strategy and the Integrated Rail Plan. Following the confirmation of our budgets in the 2022 Autumn Statement, we are working through how we continue to deliver our priorities whilst managing the impact of inflation.

Rapid Transit Systems: Energy

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of increased energy prices on (a) the Tyne and Wear Metro and (b) other light rail systems.

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has taken recent steps to provide support to (a) Nexus and (b) other transport companies to help with increased energy prices.

Mr Richard Holden: The Government recognises the challenges faced by the light rail sector caused by higher energy costs. Light rail systems are eligible under the Government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme which provides a discount on wholesale electricity prices. This scheme is in place from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023 and is reducing financial pressures across the light rail sector by millions of pounds this winter.The Government has announced the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme, which will provide a level of support with energy costs for a further 12 months for non-domestic customers from 1 April 2023 to March 2024. The Department continues to engage with Nexus and all local transport authorities that have light rail systems to fully understand the ongoing impacts of higher energy prices.

Shipping: Freight

Neale Hanvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has taken steps to provide alternative funding streams following the UK's departure from the EU's Motorway of the Seas programme.

Neale Hanvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a fund to replace EU Motorway of the Seas funding.

Neale Hanvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with (a) businesses, (b) local authorities and (c) other relevant stakeholders on EU Motorway of the Seas after the UK left the EU.

Mr Richard Holden: The Government has no plans to establish a direct replacement for the EU Motorways of the Seas programme and the Secretary of State for Transport has had no discussions with businesses, local authorities, nor other relevant stakeholders on this matter.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to allow Ukrainian refugees to use their Ukrainian-registered cars in the UK without the need to register those cars with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency within six months of arrival; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Richard Holden: Foreign registered vehicles brought temporarily into the UK are exempt from UK registration and licensing requirements for up to six months in any 12-month period. After this period and to comply with road safety legislation, any foreign vehicle must be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. The Government recognises the unique circumstances that many Ukrainians have encountered when fleeing their home country and in response His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is reviewing import duty relief applications. I have assigned dedicated resource across my Department to support those that need to register their vehicle.

Parking: Pedestrian Areas

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his department will publish (a) the results on its pavement parking consultation and (b) its next steps in response to the results of that consultation.

Mr Richard Holden: We are actively considering the options for pavement parking policy in light of the consultation findings. The Department will publish the formal consultation response and announce next steps as soon as possible.

Railways: Disability

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of removing train guards from trains for disabled passengers who use the railways.

Huw Merriman: Trains have operated safely in the UK for many years as Driver Only Operation, and the Office of Rail and Road as the independent regulator has approved this approach. The proposed reforms, including to station roles, intend to provide greater flexibility for operators to deploy staff in multiskilled customer-facing roles, able to deliver more assistance for disabled passengers and those with additional needs where and when it is most needed. The Secretary of State takes his duty to consider equality issues when forming policy, in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010, very seriously. Due regard on equalities impacts is being given accordingly.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Fuel Poverty: Voucher Schemes

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many and what proportion of people eligible for fuel vouchers have taken them up in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK in the latest period for which data is available.

Graham Stuart: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Liberty Steel: Redundancy

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department's policies of job cuts at Liberty Steel.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Strikes: Fire and Rescue Services and Railways

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, whether he has launched the consultation on adequate minimum service levels for fire, ambulance and rail services; which stakeholders he will consult with; and when he plans for that consultation to conclude.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government will consult shortly on minimum service levels for fire, ambulance, and rail services, recognising the severe disruption that the public faces when these services are impacted by strikes, especially the immediate risk to public safety when blue light services are disrupted.

Cleaning Services: Energy

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the impact of the cost of energy on the laundry sector as a (a) standalone industry and (b) part of the supply chain within the hospitality industry.

Graham Stuart: No such assessment has been made. However, the Government remains committed to supporting business with the rise in energy costs through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme which will provide a price reduction to all eligible businesses and other non-domestic customers. The price reduction will run from October 2022 until March 2023. From April 2023 the Energy Bills Discount Scheme will support UK businesses, charities and public sector with energy bills. The Scheme will provide a discount on high energy costs. Businesses in sectors with particularly high levels of energy use and trade intensity will receive a higher level of support.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing people who receive the Warm Home Discount the option to have it paid to their gas supplier rather than their electricity supplier.

Graham Stuart: Participating energy suppliers are responsible for providing Warm Home Discount rebates to their eligible customers. Eligible households receive their payment on their electricity supply by default to ensure it is clear which supplier is accountable for providing the rebate. This also reduces the risk of rebate payments being duplicated or missed between different suppliers. Where a customer is eligible for a rebate and receives both electricity and gas from one supplier, known as a dual fuel supply, they may request for the rebate to be provided on their gas supply. This is at the discretion of the energy supplier.

Energy: Meters

Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that customers are consulted with before being moved onto a prepayment meter.

Graham Stuart: Ofgem, the independent regulator, is responsible for setting the rules regarding prepayment meter transfers. These rules require that suppliers can force-fit a prepayment meter by warrant only after they have taken all reasonable steps to agree payment with customers. It should be a last resort to avoid disconnecting supply. Suppliers cannot force-fit a prepayment meter under warrant for people in very vulnerable situations without their consent. For Smart meters, the rules require suppliers to give at least seven days’ notice before moving a customer remotely to prepayment meters. Traditional meters can only be switched manually and require customer consent or a court warrant.

Energy Bills Rebate: Meters

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2022 to Question 98848 on Energy Bills Rebate: Meters, what discussions his Department has had with energy companies to help ensure that those customers entitled to the Energy Bills Support Scheme, who has not received the October 2022 prepayment voucher on time, will be able to claim and receive that payment.

Graham Stuart: On 4th December, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to all energy suppliers with customers on traditional prepayment meters, who I subsequently met with, reiterating the importance of ensuring these customers receive their vouchers. As of 1st December, energy suppliers had issued 4,044,554 vouchers to customers with traditional prepayment meters, of which 2,659,344 had so far been redeemed. The Government will continue to publish this data on a monthly basis during the scheme. Vouchers are valid for three months from the date of issue and can be extended.

Fireworks: Regulation

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to minimise the impact of domestic firework displays on (a) vulnerable residents and (b) domestic animals; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government endorses the considerate use of fireworks. We recognise that people want to enjoy fireworks while reducing the risks and disturbances to individuals, animals, and property. Existing legislation controls the sale, availability, and use of fireworks. The Government has no current plans to change the law, however, we continue to engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including animal welfare organisations such as the RSPCA, to listen to and understand their views.

Alternative Fuel Payments

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance his Department has provided to energy suppliers on the provision of the £200 Alternative Fuel Payment to households.

Graham Stuart: In advance of households receiving the Alternative Fuel Payment in February, the Department has been working at pace with stakeholders including energy suppliers. The Department has shared draft guidance for the scheme, which will be published in due course.

Energy: Meters

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of households that have legacy prepayment meters in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.

Graham Stuart: Ofgem is the regulator for the GB Energy Market. According to Ofgem figures for Q3 2022, there were 294,459 traditional prepayment meters in Scotland and 2,028,179 in GB.

Energy: Meters

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of households that have both (a) legacy pre-payment meters and (b) rely on alternative fuels in (i) Scotland and (ii) the UK.

Graham Stuart: In Scotland in Q3 2022, there were 497,943 customers on prepayment meters, of which 203,484 are smart meters and 294,459 are traditional meters. In the UK in Q3 2022, there were 4,069,814 customers on prepayment meters, of which 2,041,635 are smart meters and 2,028,179 are traditional meters. 170,000 homes are using alternative fuel for heating in Scotland and over 1.2m homes do so across Great Britain as a whole. The Government does not hold data on how many households have both.

Energy Bills Rebate: Rural Areas

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress his Department has made on delivering energy support payments for people (a) living in park homes, (b) who are off-grid and (c) with no direct relationship with an energy supplier.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding will provide support of £400 for energy bills for around 900,000 households without a direct relationship with a domestic electricity supplier. This is expected to include park home residents and off-grid homes. On 19th December 2022, the Government announced that the application portal for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding is due to open later in January, with a dedicated customer helpline available to assist customers without online access.

Hydrogen

Sir Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to expand the green hydrogen sector.

Graham Stuart: Electrolytic (‘green’) hydrogen is essential to meeting the UK's net zero target. Government analysis suggests that by 2030 the sector could support over 12,000 jobs and unlock over £9 billion in private investment. The UK is aiming to develop up to 10GW of low carbon hydrogen generation by 2030, with at least half from electrolytic hydrogen, subject to affordability and value for money. The Government has set out a comprehensive package of support, combining upfront capital funding with a long-term business model, to instigate electrolytic hydrogen projects. The Government aims to run yearly electrolytic allocation rounds for the Hydrogen Business Model.

Energy: Meters

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had recent discussions with energy companies on the length of time that vulnerable pre-payment meter customers who self-disconnect can be left without energy.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had recent discussions with energy companies on the prevalence of new prepayment meter customers inheriting debt from previous tenants.

Graham Stuart: Ofgem’s rules require energy suppliers to identify and support prepayment meter customers at risk of self-disconnection through the provision of emergency credit and additional support credit. Ofgem has recently undertaken a Market Compliance Review assessing how suppliers support customers in vulnerable situations, including those on prepayment meters. Ofgem has started compliance engagement with suppliers and asked them to take action to address the weaknesses that have been identified. Regarding inherited debt, energy suppliers should update their records when the occupant of a property changes and supply the new occupants with a new card/key in a timely manner.

Energy Bills Rebate

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be eligible to for Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding payments.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding will provide support of £400 for energy bills for around 900,000 households without a domestic electricity supply.

Local Government: Carbon Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help local authorities in achieving the Government’s net zero targets.

Graham Stuart: The Net Zero Strategy sets out our commitments to enable local areas to deliver net zero.This includes establishing a Local Net Zero Forum to bring together national and local government senior officials on a regular basis to discuss policy and delivery options on net zero; running the Local Net Zero Hubs Programme to support all local areas with their capability and capacity to meet net zero; and funding work to develop business models to increase private sector investment in local net zero.

Seas and Oceans: Exploration

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of deep sea drilling in the ocean.

Graham Stuart: The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) grants licences that confer exclusive rights to ‘search and bore for and get petroleum’ on the UK Continental Shelf. Oil and gas fields, after being licensed, require a number of consents issued by regulators before they can begin production. Licensees require a consent before a well foundation or other equipment is installed in advance of drilling operations and a well is spudded, side-tracked or drilling recommences. Guidance on requirements and the considerations that the NSTA take into account for each type of well operation can be found here.

Business: Energy Bills Discount Scheme

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what provision will be made under the Energy Bills Discount scheme for businesses dependent on unregulated fuels.

Graham Stuart: As per the current Energy Bill Relief Scheme, those receiving gas or electricity delivered over public networks from non-licensed providers will also benefit from comparable support under the further schemes if necessary. The Government is seeking evidence from organisations unable to access the EBRS because they are non-licensed providers of energy or provide energy to businesses in non-standard ways. The Government welcomes energy providers’ responses by the closing date of 20 January 2023.

Social Rented Housing: Repairs and Maintenance

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of allocating additional funding to retrofitting social housing stock; and if he will support local authorities in accelerating those measures.

Graham Stuart: The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Demonstrator project awarded around £62m of grant funding to Local Authorities in 2021. The Government launched Wave 1 of the SHDF in 2021 and awarded around £179m of grant funding to Local Authorities for delivery from 2022 into 2023. The Wave 2.1 competition, which closed in November 2022, will look to allocate up to £800m of grant funding to Social Housing Landlords, including Local Authorities, with successful projects likely to be notified in March 2023. The significant investment of Wave 2.1 provides the opportunity for delivery at scale.

Carbon Emissions

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking with Local Authorities to achieve Government’s Net Zero targets.

Graham Stuart: The Net Zero Strategy sets out the UK's commitments to enable local areas to deliver net zero. This includes establishing a Local Net Zero Forum to bring together national and local Government senior officials on a regular basis to discuss policy and delivery options on net zero; running the Local Net Zero Hubs Programme to support all local areas with their capability and capacity to meet net zero; and funding work to develop business models to increase private sector investment in local net zero.

Renewable Energy

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with representatives from the Local Government Association on accelerating the rollout of onshore wind and solar energy.

Graham Stuart: The Government recognises the role that local government plays in realising the UK's net zero carbon ambitions for onshore wind and solar. Through the Local Net Zero Forum, BEIS regularly engages with representatives from local authority organisations on net zero policy and delivery issues.

Renewable Energy

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with Local Authorities on accelerating the rollout of onshore wind and solar energy.

Graham Stuart: The Government recognises the role that local government plays in realising the UK's net zero carbon ambitions for onshore wind and solar. Through the Local Net Zero Forum, BEIS regularly engages with representatives from local authority organisations on net zero policy and delivery issues.

Business: Energy

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the potential impact of trends in the level of energy bills on commercial enterprises in winter 2023-24.

Graham Stuart: A new Energy Bill Discount Scheme has been announced from April 2023 meaning that all eligible businesses, charities and the public sector will receive a discount on high energy bills until 31 March 2024. The scheme will provide a discount on high energy costs to give businesses certainty while limiting taxpayers’ exposure to volatile energy markets through the use of a wholesale price threshold and maximum discount.

Social Rented Housing: Insulation

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report entitled End the Wait.Insulate published by UK100 on 16 November 2022.

Graham Stuart: The 2019 Conservative Manifesto committed to a £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) over a 10-year period to improve the energy performance of social homes. Grant funding allocated to SHDF has totalled over £1bn. In the Autumn Statement the Government announced £6 billion of new Government funding that will be made available from 2025 to 2028 for energy efficiency. The design of future waves of the SHDF will consider all relevant evidence to ensure effective delivery

Electricity Generation: Infrastructure

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department will provide funding for the construction of the electricity superhighways from Torness and Peterhead in Scotland to Hawthorn Pit and Drax in England.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department will (a) operate and (b) meet the maintenance costs of the electricity superhighways from Torness and Peterhead in Scotland to Hawthorn Pit and Drax in England.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the annual amount of energy that will be to be transmitted by the electricity superhighways from Torness and Peterhead in Scotland to Hawthorn Pit and Drax in England.

Graham Stuart: Ofgem, as the independent energy regulator, uses the price control process to determine the amount of funding allocated for network infrastructure projects, including the Torness and Peterhead projects. This includes regulating the cost of their build, ownership, operation and maintenance. The Government welcomes such strategic network projects and their acceleration to support the 2030 offshore wind ambition, as set out in Ofgem’s Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment framework. National Grid ESO estimates that these links will facilitate the transmission of an additional 5 TWh of energy from north to south in their first year.

Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had discussion with stakeholders on the potential merits of increasing Royal Mail’s Universal Service Obligation to a six day package service alongside its six day letter service.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Department has regular discussions with stakeholders on a wide range of issues. The Government’s objective continues to be ensuring the provision of a sustainable, accessible, and affordable universal postal service. The Government currently has no plans to change the statutory minimum requirements of the universal postal service which are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.

Universal Service Obligation

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had recent discussions with Ofcom on reviewing the Universal Service Obligation.

Kevin Hollinrake: Ministers and officials meet with Ofcom regularly to discuss a range of issues in relation to its role as the regulatory authority for the postal sector, including the provision of the universal service obligation. The Government currently has no plans to change the minimum requirements of the universal postal service which are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.

Magazine Press: Universal Service Obligation

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of a reduction in the Universal Service Obligation to five days on the magazine publishing sector.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed reduction to the Royal Mail Universal Service Obligation to a five day letter service on non-Universal Service Obligation letters.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government has no current plans to change the statutory minimum requirements of the universal postal service, set out in the Postal Services Act 2011, which requires letter deliveries to every UK address, six days a week at standard price. There is a clear and transparent process for how changes to the universal postal service should be considered and any change would need to be made through secondary legislation and agreed by Parliament.

Energy: Billing

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to encourage energy providers to reduce direct debit payments from customers with accounts in credit.

Graham Stuart: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to energy companies on 26 November asking them to make their systems more responsive so that direct debits better reflect the amount of energy used. It is also an area of focus for Ofgem’s Market Compliance Reviews where Ofgem have taken steps to ensure credit balances are kept at an appropriate level and that direct debits are not set too high. The latest review can be found here https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/ofgem-launches-new-proposals-strengthen-energy-market-and-protect-consumers.

Land Registry: Applications

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average wait time is for an application to change the land registry to be fully processed as of 10 January 2023.

Kevin Hollinrake: HM Land Registry’s latest processing times are published on GOV.UK here. Over 90% of information requests are delivered instantly via digital services, with the remainder within three days. The average waiting time for all other applications was two weeks in December, although more complex applications can take longer. Customers can request fast-tracking at no extra cost if an application becomes urgent. HMLR processes over 1000 of these every day, with 95% completed within 10 working days.

Fuel Poverty

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many homes in England and Wales were in fuel poverty in October 2021.

Graham Stuart: BEIS has responsibility for the measurement of fuel poverty in England. The latest estimates of fuel poverty in England are available:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics. Fuel poverty is a devolved matter and different metrics of fuel poverty are used in the Devolved Administrations. The latest fuel poverty estimates by Welsh Government are available here:https://www.gov.wales/fuel-poverty-estimates-wales.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential options for providing support to people on low incomes who are excluded from the Warm Homes Discount due to their accommodation not meeting the required energy cost score.

Graham Stuart: I refer the Hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 17th January 2023 to Question 120076.

Members: Correspondence

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he will respond to correspondence of (a) 1 September 2022, (b) 5 October 2022 and (c) 13 December 2022 from the Hon. member for Basildon and Billericay on a constituent, reference JB38749.

Kevin Hollinrake: My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Energy and Climate wrote to the Hon. Member on 11 January 2023 about the cost of oil and gas.

Northern Ireland Office

Voluntary Organisations: Northern Ireland

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department is taking steps to help minimise the number of staff in voluntary organisations who have been given a protective notice due to the ceasing of funding from EU programmes at the end of the 2022-23 financial year.

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if his Department will take steps to replace EU funding to voluntary organisations in Northern Ireland which are due to lose that funding at the end of the 2022-23 financial year.

Mr Steve Baker: The UK Government, led by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, has worked extensively with stakeholders in Northern Ireland to develop a UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) Investment Plan for Northern Ireland. The UKSPF is not a like-for-like replacement for EU structural funding. It will allow us to invest in social programmes that target people and places most in need. Over the next two years, the UKSPF will invest £127m in Northern Ireland, allowing voluntary and community organisations to deliver for their communities. A project competition is running until 27 January, and the Government aims to release funding for successful bidders from 1 April 2023.

High Rise Flats: Northern Ireland

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether Northern Ireland Executive approval is required for the Department for Communities to establish the building safety fund to remove dangerous cladding from high-rise buildings in Northern Ireland.

Mr Steve Baker: In the absence of Northern Ireland Executive ministers, the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2022 provides Northern Ireland civil servants with the clarity they require to take the limited but necessary decisions to maintain delivery of public services and operate in the public interest. Specifically in clause 3, subsections (1) and (3) remove the need for Ministers or an Executive Committee to be in place to enable the exercise of departmental functions by senior officers in Northern Ireland departments if they deem it in the public interest.The accompanying guidance to the Act, published on 19 December 2022, helps NI departments determine whether exercising a function is in the public interest and lists the principles that they should take into account when making such a determination. The Government cannot and should not anticipate the decisions that civil servants will need to take under this Act. Consequently, the Government does not intend to comment on which decisions require Executive approval.

Northern Ireland Office: Written Questions

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of (a) ordinary and (b) named-day written questions their Department answered on time in 2022.

Mr Steve Baker: From 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022, the Northern Ireland Office answered the following proportion of written parliamentary questions on time:(a) Ordinary PQs – 96%(b) Named Day PQs – 79%

Department of Health and Social Care

Accident and Emergency Departments

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list the (a) hospital trusts and (b) individual hospitals that lost their accident and emergency departments but have subsequently had them reinstated as a result of Government action in the last 10 years; and if he will publish the criteria used to determine when a hospital should have its accident and emergency department reinstated after closure.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Management Consultants

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much from the public purse the NHS in England has spent on management consultants in each of the last five years.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department of Health and Social Care: Management Consultants

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on management consultants in 2021-22.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Unispace Global: Contracts

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the PPE contracts awarded to Unispace Global Ltd were novated to Unispace Health LLP, now Sante Global LLP.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Unispace Global: Contracts

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Unispace Global Ltd fulfilled its contractual obligations on all PPE contracts it was awarded prior to its novation to Sante Global LLP.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immunotherapy

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospitals in England currently have the capability to undertake CAR-T therapy; and what steps he plans to take to increase the availability of this therapy.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Independent Review of Integrated Care Systems

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will place in the library a copy of the terms of reference for the review of Integrated Care Systems to be carried out by the Rt hon. Patricia Hewitt.

Helen Whately: These terms were published by the Department on 6 of December 2022 and a copy is attached.Hewitt Review Terms of Reference (pdf, 103.5KB)

Hyperactivity: Drugs

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability and supply of ADHD medications.

Will Quince: We are aware of supply issues affecting one medication to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), methylphenidate prolonged-release. Other prolonged-release preparations remain available as well as other ADHD medication. Communications were issued to the National Health Service including all general practitioners and community pharmacists in May 2022, advising on available alternatives and how to manage affected patients during this time.

Care Workers: Vacancies

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on tackling the shortage of social care workers in (a) Shropshire and (b) other rural areas in England.

Helen Whately: I have had recent discussions with several Integrated Care Systems and local authorities about the challenge of recruiting care workers in rural areas.

Diabetes

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2022 to Question 107055 on Integrated Care Boards: Diabetes, what steps his Department is taking to tackle inequities in diabetes (a) prevalence, (b) care and (c) outcomes.

Helen Whately: The NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme is available to anyone identified, through a blood test, as being at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, for referral. Local systems receive regular data on whether the numbers of people accessing the programme who are black or minority ethnic or who live in areas of higher deprivation are proportionate to the local population.Additionally, in September 2020 the National Health Service started piloting a Low Calorie Diet treatment programme for people who are overweight and living with type 2 diabetes. The programme aims to support people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes to lose weight and make better decisions about their health, enabling them to better control their blood sugar levels – reducing the need for diabetes-related medication and potentially achieving remission of their diabetes.

Ovarian Cancer: Mental Health Services

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer can access high-quality mental health and wellbeing support.

Helen Whately: NHS England have asked Cancer Alliances to map out and identify any gaps in psychosocial support provision as part of the 2022/23 planning guidance and are supporting adults experiencing cancer with access to Adult Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme mental health services, which provide evidence based psychological therapies for people with anxiety disorders and depression.

NHS: Protective Clothing

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2022 to Question on NHS: Protective Clothing, whether his Department plans to take steps to ship these units of personal protective equipment to the UK.

Will Quince: There are no current plans to do so.

Health Services and Social Services: Expenditure

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of GDP was spent on health and social care in each year since 2010.

Will Quince: The following table shows the overall Department of Health and Social Care’s spend in England as a proportion of England’s GDP in each year. This does not include spend on adult social care funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, funding for children’s social care funded by the Department for Education or spend on social care funded from council tax.Financial yearSpend2010/117.3%2011/127.2%2012/137.1%2013/147.1%2014/157.0%2015/167.0%2016/176.9%2017/186.9%2018/196.9%2019/207.3%

Palliative Care: Mental Health Services

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase mental health support to people in palliative or end-of-life care.

Helen Whately: Integrated care boards (ICBs) are required to commission appropriate palliative and end of life care services to meet the reasonable needs of their population. In line with NHS England statutory guidance and the Ambitions Framework, ICBs should commission services, which develop individualised plans of care that include explicit consideration of the provision of psychological and spiritual support.

Health Services: Waiting Lists

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of increased use of medical technology to reduce waiting times for medical care.

Will Quince: No specific assessment has been made.To support elective recovery the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available to systems last financial year to help drive up and protect elective activity. As part of the autumn statement, the Government is investing an additional £3.3 billion in each of 2023/24 and 2024/25 to support the National Health Service in England, enabling rapid action to improve emergency, elective and primary care performance towards pre-pandemic levels. As part of that funding settlement, there has been an investment in technology to improve patient experiences of care and help patients manage their conditions.

Children: Death

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to increase research into sudden unexplained death in childhood.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken steps to support research into sudden unexplained death in childhood since December 2019.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that there is adequate research into sudden unexplained death in childhood.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC). It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

Community Care

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of current Minimum Income Guarantee amounts in the context of recent increases in the cost of living.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of the level of the Minimum Income Guarantee on disabled social care users whose only income comes from disability and means-tested benefits.

Helen Whately: The Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) is reviewed annually, with the next review ongoing. Following the last review in 2022, the MIG was increased in line with inflation from 6 April 2022. Any revised rates will be published in a Local Authority Circular.

NHS: Waiting Lists

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the NHS waiting list.

Will Quince: The Government is committed to tackling the National Health Service waiting lists and is working closely with NHS England to deliver the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’.Capacity has been increased by expanding surgical hubs focussed on providing high volume low complexity surgeries and community diagnostic centres (CDCs) which will deliver up to 17 million tests by March 2025. The Government has also stood up an Elective Recovery Taskforce which will look into maximising the use of independent sector capacity free to patients at the point of use.We have committed to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to boost elective recovery. As part of the autumn statement, we are also investing an additional £3.3 billion in each of 2023/24 and 2024/25 to support the NHS in England, enabling rapid action to improve emergency, elective and primary care performance towards pre-pandemic levels.

Social Services: Power Failures

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues to care providers on possible power outages.

Helen Whately: The Department regularly meets with regional and local stakeholders to encourage business continuity planning within the health and social care sector. Care providers should engage with their relevant Local Resilience Forums who prepare for and mitigate a range of risks including power outages.

York Hospital

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the capacity of York Hospital for the level of demand in that area.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the paediatric services provided by Nimbuscare in York on reducing pressures on accident and emergency departments; and if he will make an assessment of any potential lessons learnt from this service that may benefit NHS services nationwide.

Will Quince: No specific assessment has been made. The commissioning of services in the National Health Service is a decision for local NHS commissioners and providers. In making these decisions they will take into account the needs of their local populations and make the best use of available resource to maximise patient outcomes.The assessment of services such as Nimbuscare is a matter for the NHS directly. NHS England advise that a national assessment of the service has not been carried out.

Care Workers: Pay

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to outline minimum levels of pay explicitly for social care staff; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using the Agenda for Change job evaluation process for assessing adequate levels of pay for those staff.

Helen Whately: The Department has no plans to outline minimum levels of pay specifically for social care staff and no assessment has been made of the potential merits of using the Agenda for Change job evaluation process for assessing levels of pay for those staff. Most care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay and terms and conditions, independent of Government.

Terminal Illnesses: Children

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of parents who have a child with a terminal, life-shortening condition that did not receive a key worker in 2022 due to staff shortages.

Neil O'Brien: This information is not held centrally and there are no current plans to make an estimate.

Surgery: Waiting Lists

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Delivery plan for tackling the Covid-19 backlog of elective care, published on 8 February 2022, what progress his Department has made in delivering that plan.

Will Quince: Since the publication of the Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care, the National Health Service has virtually eliminated two year waits for NHS treatments and is making progress on tackling the next long waits ambition that no one is waiting over 18 months by April 2023, nor over 65 weeks by March 2024.The plan promises investment in up to 160 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to deliver up to 17 million tests by March 2025. To date, 91 CDCs are operational, and have delivered over 2.5 million additional checks as of November 2022. Currently, there are 89 elective surgical hubs which are operational across England, focusing on providing high volume low complexity surgery.To support elective recovery, we have committed to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund. As part of the Autumn Statement, we are also investing an additional £3.3 billion in each of 2023/24 and 2024/25 to support the NHS in England, enabling rapid action to improve emergency, elective and primary care performance towards pre-pandemic levels.

Care Workers: Pay

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of levels of pay for social care staff working in (a) domiciliary and (b) residential care settings with levels of pay for equivalent social care staff working in the NHS.

Helen Whately: No assessment has been made. Most care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay and terms and conditions, independent of Government.

Health Professions: Labour Turnover

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department plans to improve the working conditions of the NHS workforce in order to help increase the retention rate of clinical positions.

Will Quince: The National Health Service People Plan and People Promise focuses on actions for organisations to build a more modern, compassionate and inclusive culture to improve the retention of NHS staff. This includes a much stronger focus on staff health and wellbeing, more support for flexible working and a renewed commitment to tackling inequality. Additionally, the NHS Retention Programme is seeking to understand why staff leave, resulting in targeted interventions to support staff to stay whilst keeping them well. This includes enhanced early career support for new graduates, mentoring schemes to support experienced staff to continue their careers, better information and advice on pensions and guidance on supporting staff through the menopause.The long term workforce plan will build on the work of the People Plan so that we can ensure the NHS has the robust and resilient workforce it needs for the future. We have committed to publishing the long term workforce plan this year.

Hospitals: Discharges

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of how many patients on NHS wards are ready for discharge but are unable to secure the necessary social care package to allow them to be discharged.

Helen Whately: As of the week ending 8 January 2023, there were approximately 14,308 people in hospitals in England who did not meet the criteria to reside and had not been discharged. NHS England does not collect data on patients who are unable to secure the necessary social care package.

Electronic Cigarettes

Ben Everitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that local Trading Standards are (a) investigating e-liquid capacity in notified e-cigarette devices and (b) removing from the market any products above the 2ml e-liquid volume limit.

Neil O'Brien: Local enforcement agencies are responsible for ensuring that e-cigarettes, vapes, comply with The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 in the United Kingdom. The Department continues to work with enforcement agencies to ensure these regulations are enforced in England, including related to restrictions on e-liquid capacity and volume.

NHS: Staff

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with NHS staff on the (a) workload of management staff and (b) support available to management staff.

Will Quince: The Government is committed to looking after the National Health Service workforce. The health, safety and wellbeing of NHS staff, including mangers, is a priority as we continue to grow the NHS workforce. Strong and effective NHS management is vital to delivering safe and high-quality care.The NHS People Plan and NHS People Promise, published in July 2020, set out a comprehensive range of actions that are focussed on making the NHS a better place to work and to improve retention. This includes a stronger focus on health and wellbeing, strengthening leadership and management to support staff and expanding opportunities for flexible working. We have committed to publishing a long term workforce plan this year to help ensure the NHS has the robust and resilient workforce it needs for the future.

Health Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a network of nightingale-style stepdown facilities to provide transitional care for people that are ready for hospital discharge but have not yet secured the social care package they require.

Helen Whately: We have no current plans to make a specific assessment.

NHS: Cost Effectiveness

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure inefficiencies across the NHS are reduced.

Will Quince: The National Health Service has agreed to double its annual efficiency target from 1.1% to 2.2%. The ‘2023/24 priorities and operational planning’ guidance, published on 23 December 2022, sets out key objectives to deliver this target over the year ahead. This includes supporting a more productive workforce, taking advantage of opportunities to deploy staff more flexibly, increasing theatre productivity, drawing on ‘Getting It Right First Time’ guidance, reducing agency spending, reducing corporate running costs, reducing procurement and supply chain costs, improving inventory management, and purchasing medicines at the most effective price point.

Cancer: Meat

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2023 to Question 117957 on Cancer: Meat, if he will take steps to review and update his Department's advice with reference to the evidence that has emerged since 2010.

Neil O'Brien: Current Government dietary advice includes recommendations to reduce red and processed meat consumption due to potential increased risk of colorectal cancer. This advice is based on the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) report on Iron and Health (2010).In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) evaluated the carcinogenicity of consuming red and processed meat. The IARC findings were broadly in line with those from SACN’s 2010 report and with current United Kingdom advice.SACN keeps a watching brief on the evidence on nutrition and health. It undertakes ‘horizon scanning’ every two years which sets out the work programme, including revisiting existing recommendations, going forward. At the most recent horizon scan in 2022, SACN did not identify this issue as requiring further assessment. SACN are planning to undertake an assessment of iron bioavailability, which may impact on recommendations on meat consumption, when new evidence is available. The next SACN horizon scan session is due in 2024.

Tourette's Syndrome: Medical Treatments

Dean Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the representatives of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the (a) formulation and (b) publication of NICE guidelines for the treatment of Tourette's Syndrome.

Will Quince: There have been no specific discussions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service in line with its established methods and processes. In line with its process for considering requests for new guidelines, NICE has considered the possible development of a guideline on Tourette’s syndrome, which was discussed at a meeting of the cross-agency topic prioritisation group in November 2022. The group did not consider this topic to be a national priority at this time and therefore decided not to prioritise development of a NICE guideline on Tourette’s syndrome.

Health Services: Cost Effectiveness

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that inefficiencies in the (a) ambulance service and (b) NHS are reduced.

Will Quince: ‘2023/24 priorities and operational planning’ guidance sets out that all National Health Service integrated care boards and providers will develop robust plans and oversight arrangements to meet the agreed 2.2% efficiency target and improve levels of productivity.Measures to release efficiency savings will include actions to reduce agency spending across the NHS to 3.7% of the total pay bill, reduce corporate running costs, procurement and supply chain costs, improve inventory management, and purchase medicines at the most effective price point

Dental Services: South West

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dentistry practices offer NHS services in the South West of England.

Neil O'Brien: There are 758 dentistry practices in the South-West of England with National Health Service contracts to provide dental services.

Home Care Services

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has been made aware of cases in England where care cannot be delivered safely due to the low temperature of a person’s home.

Will Quince: The Department is not aware of any such cases in England.

Hospital Beds: Private Sector

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of hospital trusts in England have 10 per cent or more of their beds allocated to private patients.

Will Quince: The information requested is not held centrally.

Care Workers: Career Development

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he will introduce a professional career framework for social care staff.

Helen Whately: In the ‘People at the Heart of Care White Paper’ we committed to the development of a national Knowledge and Skills Framework for the adult social care workforce. We are developing plans on this and will announce more detail shortly.

Fampridine

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on access to Fampridine for people with multiple sclerosis.

Will Quince: There have been no specific discussions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on whether medicines represent a clinical and cost-effective use of resources. NICE was unable to recommend fampridine in its clinical guideline on managing multiple sclerosis which was originally published in 2014 and updated in 2022.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer given on 20 December 2022 to Question 109778, on Hormone Replacement Therapy, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the use of such alternative products on the health of patients.

Will Quince: Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) are a tool that has been in place for many years to manage and mitigate medicine and medical devices shortages and pharmacists will be familiar with the process.The Department has sought clinical advice for these SSPs from national experts including clinicians from the British Menopause Society and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, who are supportive of this management option. The SSPs were clinically checked by expert clinicians and signed off by senior clinicians at NHS England before being published. The substituted products that have been included in the SSPs are all licensed medicines that are considered clinically appropriate products by clinicians.17 SSP’s for hormone replacement therapy products have been issued since April 2022. Most have been withdrawn as the supply position of products affected by short term supply issues have resolved. Five SSPs currently remain in place.

Integrated Care Boards

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answers of 12 December 2022 to Question 104279 on Integrated Care Boards: Health Professions, Question 104280 on Integrated Care Boards: Care Workers and Question 104281 on Integrated Care Boards: Public Health, if he will take steps to monitor the (a) compensation and (b) effectiveness of stakeholders on Integrated Care Boards; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of including Directors of Public Health on Integrated Care Boards.

Helen Whately: The Health and Care Act 2022 has set the minimum membership requirement of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). Some local areas have, by local agreement, gone beyond the legislative minimum requirements and appointed Directors of Public Health to ICBs. Currently there are no plans for mandating ICBs to appoint additional compulsory members.NHS England formally oversees ICBs and has a legal duty to annually assess the performance of each ICB and publish their findings. Care Quality Commission assessments will also provide an independent assurance to public and parliament. Currently there are no plans to monitor compensation and performance of individual board members.

Health Services: Cooperation

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for patient care of (a) levels of communication and (b) information sharing facilities between the NHS in England and health services in the devolved nations.

Will Quince: At an operational level, there are arrangements in place to support the sharing of information across borders. Organisations share information where appropriate to inform good decision-making, support healthcare and minimise risk to patients.Legal routes are available to allow the sharing of health data in the United Kingdom to support individual care and to improve health outcomes. We are working with the devolved administrations to ensure that health and care data can be accessed safely and effectively. We have established an agreed processes to manage cross-border healthcare with Wales for patients who live on the English and Welsh border.

Dental Services: Children

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that children have access to an NHS dentist.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that people who are over 65 have access to an NHS dentist.

Neil O'Brien: NHS England is responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population. Many of the dentistry commissioning functions undertaken by NHS England will transfer to integrated care boards (ICBs) from April 2023. ICBs will be responsible for meeting the needs of its local population of all ages, working with patient groups. NHS England has made available to commissioners an Assurance Framework to provide assurances on commissioning.In circumstances where a person or parents are unable to access an urgent dental appointment for their child directly through a National Health Service dental practice, they are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance. In September 2022, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’ which sets out how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to NHS dental care, including for children, whilst making the NHS dental contract more attractive to dental practices. These changes have been implemented, including through regulations that came into effect on 25 November 2022. NHS England is holding further discussions with the British Dental Association and other stakeholders for additional reforms of the NHS Dental System planned to take place in 2023.

Medicine: Education

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2023 to Question 117444 on Medicine: Education, for what reason his Department does not monitor the number of medical students currently training in the UK.

Will Quince: The Department monitors a number of points across the medical training pipeline for England. This includes, the numbers of applicants, acceptances and entrants. The Department also monitors those entering foundation training in the National Health Service following completion of medical degrees through statistics drawn from the Electronic Staff Record and published by NHS Digital.However, there is not a single indicator that shows how many medical students are studying in the United Kingdom across all years and all medical schools at a given point in time. To obtain such information it would require each medical school across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to take on a significant and more detailed reporting burden. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements for managing their education and training pipelines.However, the following table shows medical courses applicants, acceptances in England and entrants in the UK from 2011 to 2022.Academic yearUnique applicants to undergraduate medical courses in EnglandAcceptances to undergraduate medical courses in EnglandEntrants to undergraduate medical courses in the United Kingdom201121,8256,090N/A201221,0606,2257,810201321,4305,9157,560201421,9656,0857,640201519,8206,0957,515201619,5456,1857,560201718,5206,1757,765201819,8706,7208,615201921,5857,6609,450202022,6658,38510,460202127,4608,61010,5402022N/AN/A10,655 Source:University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) end of cycle 2021 and Office for Students Medical Dental Students Survey (2012-2022), Office for Students Note:The Office for Students (OfS), who report to Parliament through the Department of Education, publishes the number of entrants to undergraduate medical courses for the UK on an annual basis.2022 entrants are based on initial figures and are likely to change.

Ophthalmic Services: Special Educational Needs

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on the delivery of the NHS Special Schools Eye Care Service.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his policy is on the provision of primary ophthalmic services for children in non-residential special schools.

Neil O'Brien: All children under 18 years old in full time education are eligible for free National Health Service sight tests from high street opticians and in some circumstances domiciliary sight tests delivered in their own home. Where access to services may be challenging, the hospital eye service can also provide eye care services and ongoing care.The NHS Long Term Plan made a commitment to ensure that children and young people with a learning disability and/or autism in special residential schools have access to sight checks in school. NHS England commenced a proof-of-concept programme in 2021 to pilot and evaluate a potential sight testing service model in residential schools. The pilot is currently being evaluated and we expect this to conclude early in 2023.NHS England has confirmed that all existing contracts operating under the proof of concept programme will continue until 31 July 2023. This will provide continuity of care until the end of the academic year and allow for additional stakeholder engagement. The evaluation of the programme will also inform whether this service should continue beyond this date.

Myeloma: Medical Treatments

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the forthcoming analysis by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence of the effectiveness of the use of CAR-T therapy for multiple myeloma, which national tariffs NICE will use for that analysis; how those tariffs were calculated; which (a) people and (b) organisations were consulted on the calculation of the tariff; and which tariffs were used by NICE in analysis of the use of CAR-T therapy for other conditions.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently evaluating ciltacabtagene autoleucel, a type of CAR-T therapy, within its marketing authorisation for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. NICE has previously evaluated other CAR-T therapies such as axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta®) and tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah®) through its technology appraisal programme.NICE’s technology appraisal process requires the manufacturer or sponsor of the technology under evaluation to produce an evidence submission that is developed in line with NICE’s preferred methods for economic evaluation (the “reference case”) as set out in its published manual for health technology evaluation. The evidence submission is then considered by NICE’s appraisal committee alongside a critique from an independent academic group and evidence from other stakeholders such as patients, clinicians and NHS England. During the ongoing appraisal of axicabtagene ciloleucel for treating relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, NHS England made the committee aware of a single tariff for the delivery of CAR T-cell therapies. NICE does not hold any information on who NHS England consulted on the calculation of the tariff.NICE’s health technology evaluation manual states that the reference case “should include the full additional costs associated with introducing a technology”. The appraisal committee will consider in developing its recommendations whether the costs that are captured in the evidence submission appropriately reflect the costs to the National Health Service.The committee papers for previous and ongoing appraisals of CAR-T therapies are available on the NICE website.

Sante Global

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he held discussions with lobbyists for Sante Global LLP between April and September 2022.

Will Quince: There were no discussions held.

Cancer: Waiting Lists

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was for a (a) first appointment with a consultant and (b) start of treatment for cancer for patients in York in the latest period for which data is available.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was for starting cancer treatment in (a) York, (b) Yorkshire and (c) the UK in the latest period for which data is available.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was for patients to begin radiotherapy treatment in York in the latest period for which data is available.

Helen Whately: The information is not held in the format requested.

Special Educational Needs: Health Services and Social Services

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the role that health and social services have in filling the workforce gaps in the specialist support for children and young people with special educational needs that were identified in the SEND review.

Maria Caulfield: Ministers have regular discussions on cross Government policy issues, including in relation to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP).The SEND and AP green paper sets out our proposal to commission analysis to ensure that the health needs of children and young people with SEND are supported through effective workforce planning. We propose to work with Health Education England, NHS England and the Department for Education to build on existing evidence and build a clearer picture of demand for support for children and young people with SEND from the therapy and diagnostic workforce. Following the Department of Education’s consultation on the green paper proposals, respective Departments are working closely on the development of an improvement plan to deliver change and continue to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND and those who need AP. This is due to be published early this year.

Social Services

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of excluding the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment, the care component of DLA, Attendance Allowance and disability premiums in social security means-tested benefits from income for the purpose of charging for care in community on (a) the quality of life and incomes levels among social care recipients, including people with disabilities of working age with high support needs and (b) local authority budgets.

Maria Caulfield: No specific assessment has been made.

China: Coronavirus

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the rising number of covid-19 cases in China; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: Our policy is set out in the “Living with COVID-19 Strategy”, published last February. That explained that we would be removing self-isolation and other requirements and standing down much of our COVID-19 response, including testing and tracing infrastructure. However, we recognise that the pandemic is not over, and that there remains a risk of future COVID-19 surges and variants, both nationally and internationally.We have therefore maintained the capacity for contingency responses to emerging COVID-19 threats, for example by extending eligibility for testing. As a result, we have been able to respond quickly to the situation in China, using existing contingency plans and capacity, and do so in line with existing policies.The UK Health Security Agency began non-mandatory polymerase chain reaction testing with genomic sequencing at Heathrow, to detect new variants among passengers arriving on direct flights from China and passengers arriving from China to England now need to show a negative COVID-19 pre-departure test taken no more than two days prior to departure.The best defence against COVID-19 remains vaccination and the Government continues to encourage those eligible to receive their boosters

General Practitioners: Training

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of collecting data on the number of GPs with specific training on menopause issues.

Maria Caulfield: No specific assessment has been made. Women's health is embedded into the Royal College of General Practitioners curriculum for trainee general practitioners. The curriculum clinical topic guides cover the health care needs of women across all conditions and diseases seen in primary care including menopause.The NHS England National Menopause Improvement Programme is working to improve clinical care for menopause in England. The programme is developing optimal care pathways aligned with the recommendations set out in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline on menopause diagnosis and management, which represents best practice in menopause care. As part of the programme, NHS England is working with Health Education England and other stakeholders to develop content that will support delivery of training and awareness raising amongst healthcare professionals.

Disability and Down's Syndrome

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase support for people living with (a) Down's Syndome and (b) other disabilities throughout all stages of life.

Maria Caulfield: To increase access to support for people with Down’s Syndrome and for disabled people we are developing guidance aimed at improving support for people with Down’s Syndrome, as required by the Down Syndrome Act which received Royal Assent in April 2022. This guidance will set out practical steps that organisations should take to meet the needs of people with Down’s Syndrome. It will also help to clarify the support and services people with Down’s Syndrome can expect to receive. The Cabinet Office Disability Unit is developing a new Disability Action Plan, which will be consulted on and published this year. The Plan will set out the actions the Government will take in 2023 and 2024 to improve disabled people’s lives. There will also be mandatory training for all health and social care staff on learning disability and autism and commissioning analysis on the health needs of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) so these can be better met through effective workforce planning.

Disability: Employment Schemes

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2022 to Question 101730 on Disability: Employment Schemes, what format the requested information is held in.

Maria Caulfield: Information on the amount spent on Individual Placement and Support programmes cannot be identified separately from expenditure on other mental health services.

Coronavirus and Influenza: Vaccination

Maggie Throup: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to promote the uptake of free (a) seasonal flu and (b) COVID-19 booster vaccinations to eligible cohorts in winter 2022/23..

Maria Caulfield: The Department together with the National Health Service and UK Health Security Agency are providing advice and information to support those getting the COVID-19 and flu vaccines and to anyone who might have questions about the vaccination process. Our communications include information and advice shared via television, radio and social media. This has been translated into 28 languages including Albanian, Arabic, Brazilian, Chinese, Hindi, Polish, Tagalog and Urdu. A new country-wide marketing campaign urging millions of eligible people to get their flu and COVID-19 booster vaccines to top up their immunity was launched on 24 October 2022. This includes targeted communications for ethnic minority communities, with a particular focus on those with low vaccine confidence. Multicultural community activity is seeing teams of campaign ambassadors engage with a range of different ethnic groups who tend to be more vaccine hesitant. This is taking place across the country in high footfall places of worship and nearby community settings.

Suicide: Males

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to provide suicide prevention support for men.

Maria Caulfield: From 2019/20, we are investing £57million in suicide prevention through the NHS Long Term Plan. This will see investment in every area by 2023/24 to support local suicide prevention plans and establish suicide bereavement support services. We have ensured that this funding is testing different approaches to reaching men in local communities. We also announced on 9 May 2022 that 113 suicide prevention voluntary, community and social enterprises received a share of £5.4 million funding in 2021/22 to prevent suicide in high-risk groups, including men. In addition, every local authority area has a suicide prevention plan in place, and the guidance we issued to local authorities highlights the importance of working across all local services, including the voluntary sector, to target high risk groups such as men. The Government launched a public call for evidence on what can be done across Government in the longer term to support mental health, wellbeing and suicide prevention. The call for evidence closed on 7 July 2022 and we are currently analysing over 5,000 responses received.

Health Services: Patients

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the patient voice in decisions about their care within the NHS.

Maria Caulfield: There are several channels and feedback tools available through which patients can express their views about health services, including local Healthwatch organisations and the Friends and Family Test. The Patient Advice and Liaison Service is also available to provide support and advice on a range of matters, including how people can get more involved in their own healthcare. If someone is unhappy about any aspect of their National Health Service care or treatment, they have the right to make a complaint and to have that complaint investigated and responded to. Support with the complaints process is available from the Independent NHS Complaints Advocacy Service.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on covid-19 vaccines on 6 December 2022, on what date will the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation announce whether the Pfizer/BioNTech covid-19 vaccine is recommended for use in children aged 6 months to 4 years.

Maria Caulfield: The Government continues to be guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on who should be offered COVID-19 vaccinations. No date has been set for publication of JCVI advice on the offer of COVID-19 vaccination to children aged 6 months old to 4 years old.

Dementia: Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer given on 20 December 2022 to Question 110686, on Dementia: Research, whether UK funding invested or used in another country will be counted towards the commitment to double funding for dementia research; and whether money invested by other countries will be counted towards the commitment to double funding for dementia research.

Helen Whately: United Kingdom funding invested in research into dementia, delivered in partnership with other countries, will be counted towards the commitment to double funding for dementia research when funding UK based researchers.

Self-harm: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children under the age of 18 have been referred for counselling on the NHS due to self harm in the last 5 years.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is not held centrally.

Sodium Valproate: Compensation

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a compensation scheme for people who have been harmed by sodium valproate.

Maria Caulfield: Last year, we worked with NHS Resolution to launch a claims gateway on its website to provide further support to patients who may wish to bring a clinical negligence claim in relation to harm from sodium valproate. We are also taking a range of action to improve the future safety of medicines and medical devices, setting high standards for industry to market and manufacture products, with the aim of reducing harm in the future.Ministers recently discussed this issue with Henrietta Hughes, the new Patient Safety Commissioner, and the Department will ensure her views feed into our work moving forward.

Care Homes: Fees and Charges

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of private care homes which accept local authority rates without an additional third-party top-up in (a) England, (b) the South West and (c) Bristol South.

Helen Whately: The information requested is not held centrally.

IVF: LGBT+ People

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the policy paper entitled Women’s Health Strategy for England, published 30 August 2022, CP 736, what recent progress he has made on relieving (a) financial and (b) other practical burdens to gain access to IVF for female same-sex couples.

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is assessing the specific fertility needs of transgender men to help make IVF access more inclusive.

Maria Caulfield: The Women’s Health Strategy contained a number of important changes and future ambitions to improve the variations in access to National Health Service (NHS) funded fertility services.The Strategy sets out our commitment to remove financial burdens on female sex couples being able to access NHS funded treatment. The Department is currently working with NHS England to implement this through local Integrated Care Board, with the intention that this change is made from April 2023.The Government supports transgender people receiving the healthcare and support they require. We expect fertility services to be commissioned in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, ensuring equal access to fertility treatment and preservation across England. Partners who are transgender men, or non-binary people assigned female at birth, fall within the NICE definition of same-sex couples, as they require Intrauterine Insemination as a first line of treatment.In addition, NICE is currently reviewing its fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to NHS funded treatment and preservation are still appropriate. We expect that this review will be published in 2024.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Children

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) experiences and (b) outcomes for children living with myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome.

Helen Whately: We are developing a cross-Government Delivery Plan on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). As part of the plan, we are working with other Government departments and stakeholders to determine ways to improve experiences and outcomes for all people who have ME/CFS, including children.

Gender Recognition: Health Services

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2022 to Question 13051 on Gender Recognition: West Yorkshire, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the functioning of the pilot gender identity clinics and new services models; if he will publish the evaluation of the pilots; whether clinical capacity has increased; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: No specific assessment has been made. Four pilot gender identity services, commissioned by the National Health Service are now operational in London, Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside and the East of England, with a further clinic opening in Sussex in the coming months. The programme's evaluation is expected to conclude in 2025/26. There are no current plans to publish any evaluation material until this process has completed. These new services have increased clinical capacity and are prioritising patients who are already on the waiting list for existing NHS-commissioned Gender Dysphoria Clinics.

Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an estimate of the number of people living with Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia in England.

Helen Whately: The information requested is not held centrally.

Mental Health

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people in the UK who suffer from Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Helen Whately: No specific estimate has been made.

Myeloma: Medical Treatments

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of countries that have approved CAR-T therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of countries which have currently approved CAR-T therapy, broken down by condition.

Helen Whately: The information requested is not held centrally.

Mental Health Services: Standards

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2022 to Question 87887 on Mental Health Services: Standards, what steps he is taking to help tackle (a) failures identified in Care Quality Commission reports and (b) the reoccurrence of these failures.

Maria Caulfield: Mental health providers are expected to formulate an action plan to meet any shortfalls in standards in Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections reports and any enforcement action, working in partnership with local integrated care boards, NHS England and the CQC. The CQC will reinspect the provider, often within six months of a report being published, to check if the provider has made the required improvements. The CQC shares information of concern with relevant stakeholders to allow them to support the provider to improve and monitors emerging issues and trends evidenced across its inspection reports. It raises these issues for national consideration and action through its annual publications such as State of Care and the Mental Health Act monitoring report, as well as its independent voice publications. Mental health patients and their families deserve and expect the highest standards of care and it is vitally important we learn from such failures to improve care across the National Service Health and protect patients in the future. Ministers are considering options to address the issues in mental health inpatient care identified recently at a number of providers. We will update on this in due course.

Dental Services

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of 2019 dentistry (a) appointments and (b) treatment took place in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Neil O'Brien: The number of unique dentistry patients seen in 2019 was 23,655,188. 56% of this number of patients were seen for treatment in 2020 and 70% in 2021.The following table shows the proportion of courses of treatment compared to 2019.YearBand 1 (%)Band 2 (%)Band 3 (%)Urgent (%)Other (%)2020/2121302798512021/2260757610469 Note:Due to the nature of the dental contract, courses of treatment have been used, rather than the number of appointments alone, which is not collected. The last weeks of 2019/20 may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dentistry: Qualifications

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 24 January 2022 in the Adjournment debate on NHS Dentistry: Bristol and the South-west, Official Report column 827, what recent progress he has made on UK recognition of the qualifications of dental practitioners from the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland.

Neil O'Brien: The European Qualifications (Health and Social Care Professions) (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 provide for the automatic recognition of relevant dental qualifications obtained in the European Economic Area and Switzerland for a period of at least 24 months from the end of the transition period, 48 months for Swiss qualifications. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is required under Regulation 14 of this legislation to carry out a statutory review of these arrangements after the end of the 24 month period. This review began at the start of 2023. Automatic recognition of qualifications will continue unless and until further legislation is introduced to amend or end these arrangements.

Dental Services: Contracts

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 24 January 2022 in the Adjournment debate on NHS Dentistry: Bristol and the South-west, Official Report column 826, what recent progress has been made on engaging with key stakeholders, including the British Dental Association, on reform of the dental contract.

Neil O'Brien: NHS England and the Department worked closely with the British Dental Association (BDA) on the first phase of dental system reform. A set of improvements were negotiated on with the BDA and consulted on with a wider group of dental and patient stakeholder bodies, who approved of the improvements. These were set out in ‘Our plan for patients’, announced in September 2022, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to National Health Service dental care. This included improving the 2006 contract to ensure fairer remuneration for practices providing complex treatment and enabling dentists to make better use of dental teams to deliver NHS treatment. This package of changes was implemented through regulations that came into effect on 25 November 2022, in addition to directions and guidance published by NHS England. They will improve access to general dentistry and make the NHS contract more attractive and sustainable to dentists and their teams. NHS England is holding discussions and consulting with BDA and the wider dental sector for additional reforms of the NHS Dental System, planned for 2023.

Wales Office

Iron and Steel: Wales

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps he is taking to support the steel industry in Wales.

David T C  Davies: We continue to work closely with the Steel industry to secure a sustainable and competitive future. Our support for Steel includes over £800m for energy costs, in addition to the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. I was disappointed to hear about Liberty Steel. I understand this will be a concerning time for those impacted. I have already spoken to Cabinet colleagues about this matter and we stand ready to support.

Nuclear Installations: Wales

Duncan Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on new nuclear power sites in Wales.

David T C  Davies: Wales is home to two of the best sites for new nuclear developments which will provide high-quality jobs, contribute to net zero and secure our energy supply. There is clear cross-party support for new nuclear and I will continue to work with Cabinet colleagues who want to develop these opportunities in Wales as much as I do.

Transport: Infrastructure

Kevin Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on transport infrastructure between Wales and the South West of England.

David T C  Davies: I have regular discussions with the Transport Secretary on a range of transport measures, including infrastructure between Wales and the South West of England. Sadly, the Welsh Government is against the M4 Relief Road which would be of huge benefit to the region.

Department for Education

Further Education: Capital Investment

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations she has received about potential delays to college capital projects as a result of her direction for FE colleges to suspend any capital projects which were likely to rely upon private sector borrowing arrangements.

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of college capital projects delayed as a result of her direction for FE colleges to suspend any capital projects which were likely to rely upon private sector borrowing arrangements.

Robert Halfon: Following the decision by the Office for National Statistics to reclassify colleges to the public sector, the department is supporting colleges to meet the requirements of managing public money while retaining many of their key areas of autonomy and flexibility. Public sector organisations may only borrow from private sector sources if the transaction delivers value for money for taxpayers. A consents process has been put in place for any new commercial borrowing and the department aims to respond to requests from colleges as quickly as possible. Through this process, as of week commencing 9 January, the department has received 63 consent requests, of which 36 have capital projects as part of the request, from 24 colleges. We estimate up to 28 of consent requests relate to projects that are currently underway at 20 colleges. The department is working through the consent requests and will seek to mitigate the risk of delays to capital projects as far as possible. To take into consideration the new restrictions on commercial borrowing, the department will be providing an additional £150 million of capital funding that will be available to further education colleges, sixth form colleges and designated institutions in April 2023. In late 2022, the department published the allocations to ensure colleges have certainty about how much they will receive so that they can factor this into their plans. To help colleges manage their cashflow, the department is addressing the historical issue of uneven monthly payments from central government for 16-to-19 funding and the adult education budget. The department is investing £300 million before the end of the current financial year by bringing forward payments. The new funding profile will better match colleges’ needs, recognising the challenging environment the sector faces.

Medicine: Students

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many medical students completed their training at higher education providers in the 2021-22 academic year.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of medical students who completed their training at higher education providers were UK nationals in the 2021-22 academic year.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many nursing students completed their training at higher education providers in the 2021-22 academic year.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of nursing students who completed their training at higher education providers were UK nationals in the 2021-22 academic year.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many dentistry students completed their training at UK higher education providers in the academic year 2021-22.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the dentistry students that completed their training at higher education providers in the academic year 2021-22 were UK nationals.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many veterinary students completed their training at UK higher education providers in the academic year 2021-22.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of veterinary students that completed their training at higher education providers in the academic year 2021-22 were UK nationals.

Robert Halfon: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes statistics on enrolments and qualifications obtained at UK Higher Education Providers (HEPs). Latest statistics refer to the academic year 2020/21. Data for the 2021/22 academic year is due to be published on 19 January 2023.The table below shows the number of students that have qualified from their first-degree from a UK HEI in a medical related subject by domicile.Full-person-equivalent1 First Degree qualifiers in select subjects at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) by domicile, in the academic year 2020/21Subject area 2Number of first-degree qualifiers domiciled in the UKNumber of first-degree qualifiers domiciled outside of the UKTotal number of first-degree qualifiersPercentage of first-degree qualifiers domiciled in the UKDentistry (CAH01-01-04)980851,06092.5%Medicine (CAH01-01-01, CAH01-01-02, CAH01-01-03)7,9651,3609,32585.4%Nursing and midwifery (CAH02-04)23,28061523,91597.3%Veterinary sciences (CAH05-01)1,2853251,61079.8% Counts are based on full-person-equivalents. Where a student is studying more than one subject, they are apportioned between the subjects that make up their course. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5, in line with HESA rounding conventions, information on HESA rounding is available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/definitions/students#rounding-and-suppression-strategy. Numbers may not sum due to rounding.Information on qualifiers by principal HECoS code is published by HESA as part of their Open Data Pages Table 54, available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-54. As of 2019/20, the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) was introduced which means that the figures found in the table below are not directly comparable with years prior to 2019/20.

Further Education: Assessments

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students passed (a) level 1, (b) level 2, (c) level 3, (d) level 4, (e) level 5 and (f) foundation level courses in each subject in each FE college in England in each year since 2010.

Robert Halfon: For adults over the age of 19 further education and skills, learning aim achievements by level, sector subject area and provider have been published for the 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years in underlying data supporting the apprenticeships and traineeships statistics publications. Tables showing the breakdowns requested for these three years are present in the attached file.To note, aim achievements are a count of achievements at aim level. Learners will be counted for each aim they are studying and so can be counted more than once.Learning aim achievements 2019/20 (xlsx, 1578.7KB)

Agriculture: Students

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students were enrolled in courses at agricultural specialist higher education providers in the academic year 2021-22.

Robert Halfon: The Office for Students (OfS) publishes subject areas by specialism for higher education (HE) providers in England. This can be found here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/provider-typologies-2022/.From this the Royal Agricultural University and Harper Adams University were identified as the two specialist HE providers with the primary specialist subject being related to ‘Agriculture, food and related studies’. The total number of student enrolments at these providers during the 2020/21 academic year, according to the Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA), are as follows:The Royal Agricultural University – 1,175Harper Adams University – 5,135Total – 6,310 HESA collects and publishes statistics on enrolments and qualifications obtained at UK Higher Education Institutions. Latest statistics refer to the academic year 2020/21. This can be accessed here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-52.Data for the 2021/22 academic year is due to be published on 19 January 2023.

Youth Training Scheme

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how graduates of the Youth Training Scheme can access records of their qualifications.

Robert Halfon: The Youth Training Scheme, introduced in 1983, was managed by the Manpower Services Commission and then Training and Enterprise Councils in 1989 when it became Youth Training.The department does not hold any records of participants on the scheme. Where an individual may know the qualification they undertook, the best course of action would be for them to contact the relevant awarding organisation.

Relationships and Sex Education: Domestic Abuse

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has had discussions with the Minister for Women and Equalities on the adequacy of the provision of education on domestic abuse and controlling and coercive behaviour in post-16 education.

Robert Halfon: The department does not provide a national curriculum for post-16 students beyond key stage 4. Post-16 providers have the flexibility to offer aspects of relationships, sex and health education, including content on domestic abuse and controlling and coercive behaviour, and should support students to access the information and support they need to have positive relationships.The Ofsted further education and skills inspection handbook includes personal development as part of its judgements. This includes ‘developing an age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships through appropriate relationship and sex education’.

Further Education: Pay

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many lecturers were paid at the highest scale of the advanced teacher and training scale for FE college lecturers by each college in England in each year since 2000.

Robert Halfon: Further education (FE) colleges are responsible for setting the pay and terms and conditions of their workforce. This remains the case following reclassification of the statutory FE sector. The department has no role in setting or negotiating teacher pay in further education colleges.Reclassification of the statutory FE sector does mean that colleges will fall within the scope of senior pay controls, as set out by HM Treasury.

Further Education: Pay

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the maximum salary of the advanced teacher and training scale for FE college lecturers was in each year since 2000.

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many lecturers were paid at the highest scale of the advanced teacher and training scale for FE college lecturers by each college in England in each year since 2000.

Robert Halfon: Further education (FE) colleges are responsible for setting the pay and terms and conditions of their workforce. This remains the case following reclassification of the statutory FE sector. The department has no role in setting or negotiating teacher pay in further education colleges.Reclassification of the statutory FE sector does mean that colleges will fall within the scope of senior pay controls, as set out by HM Treasury.

Apprentices

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students (a) began and (b) successfully completed traineeship programmes in each year since they began.

Robert Halfon: Traineeship starts, completions and completion rates since the 2014/15 academic year are published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/50bc6985-f66e-4301-8179-08dae43019f8.The academic year refers to the start year of the traineeship. Completions and completion rates for traineeships started in 2021/22 are not yet available.Further statistics on traineeships can be found in the Apprenticeships and traineeships statistics publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships.

Further Education: Ethnic Groups

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of students doing (a) level 1, (b) level 2, (c) level 3 and (d) foundation level courses were black, Asian and minority ethnic in each college in England on 1 January 2023.

Robert Halfon: The table below shows the proportion of participating further education and skills learners over the age of 19 in the 2021/22 academic year that declared themselves from an ethnic minority (excluding white minorities).Adult (19+) further education and skills learners in the 2021/22 academic year: Proportion declaring themselves from an ethnic minority group (excluding white minorities)  Total Participation26.2%Participation Below level 2 (excluding basic skills)40.7%Participation Basic skills43.8%Participation Level 223.7%Participation Level 318.5%Participation Level 4+16.7%Participation No level assigned27.1% Note: Instances where a learner’s ethnicity is not declared are excluded from the calculation.The department does not have this information broken down further by provider. For provider breakdowns by ethnicity we publish the number of learners over the age of 19 that declare themselves from an ethnic minority group at each provider for each provision type on page 12 of our data visualisation tool, which can be accessed here: https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiNzYwNTcxNDItNjgyNS00ODMyLTgwNGUtMjFlODkyMjE4OWMyIiwidCI6ImZhZDI3N2M5LWM2MGEtNGRhMS1iNWYzLWIzYjhiMzRhODJmOSIsImMiOjh9. The department published the number of adult learners over the age of 19 that declare themselves from an ethnic minority group by level, sector subject area and local authority delivery scheme for both apprenticeships, education and training, and community learning that can be created in the following tables:Adult (19+) Education and training participation: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/5afef539-b275-43b9-b0cd-988844b9595eCommunity learning participation: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/e5b72c7b-c3f7-4fc0-885f-9643716363e1Apprenticeship starts (all age): https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/bfa16360-9a7d-4381-b27b-59dc7326c013

Further Education: Teachers

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teaching vacancies there were in each further education college in England on 1 January 2023.

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) teaching and (b) non-teaching staff each FE College in England made redundant in 2022.

Robert Halfon: The department does not hold data relating to the number of teaching vacancies in further education (FE) colleges in England on 1 January 2023 or the number of redundancies in the sector in 2022.Last year, the department launched a mandatory annual FE Workforce Data Collection which will improve the data the department holds on the FE workforce.

Further Education: Energy

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of energy costs on the financial security of further education colleges; and what steps the Government is taking to support further education colleges with those costs.

Robert Halfon: The department knows that alongside pay and inflationary pressures, one of the biggest challenges facing some colleges is the rising cost of energy. We are keeping under review the potential impacts of the rising cost of energy on providers across the department’s remit.Colleges are autonomous institutions responsible for their own financial sustainability and are taking actions to respond to inflationary pressures, for example through reducing energy consumption.The department assesses and reviews colleges’ financial health on a regular basis and uses this information to determine where we can help colleges to improve their position. Information about this process can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/college-oversight-support-and-intervention.The Energy Bill Relief Scheme currently provides a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic consumers. This includes public sector organisations, voluntary sector organisations like charities, and businesses. The scheme came into effect on 1 October 2022 and will run until 31 March 2023.The government has announced a new business energy scheme from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 for eligible non-domestic consumers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This includes public sector organisations. Wholesale gas prices have almost halved since the current scheme was announced. The new scheme therefore strikes a balance between supporting businesses over the next 12 months and limiting taxpayers’ exposure to volatile energy markets, with a cap set at £5.5 billion based on estimated volumes.Schools and colleges in England have also been allocated a share of £500 million in capital funding in financial year 2022/23. This comprises £447 million for schools and sixth-form colleges and £53 million for further education (FE) colleges, to spend on energy efficiency upgrades.This will not only help schools and colleges save money, but it will also make them more energy efficient during the cold period and increase winter resilience for future years. A FE college group will receive £290,000 on average from that additional funding. Allocations were published on 6 December 2022 to help colleges plan and payments are expected to be made in January 2023.In addition to the capital funding, the department has recently announced that in financial year 2023/24 we will be using £125 million of available funding to support all institutions’ costs by increasing the national funding rate by 2.2% from £4,542 to £4,642, and increase the programme cost weightings for specific high-value subject areas. That will help institutions with the additional costs of recruiting and retaining teachers in these vocational areas.

Further Education: Apprentices

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many further education students undertook further education apprenticeships in each of the last ten years; and what the average cost to the public purse was per student in each of those years.

Robert Halfon: Further education (FE) colleges are a critical component of the apprenticeships system in England, delivering high quality training to apprentices across a wide range of occupations.The table below shows the volume of apprentice learners participating in apprenticeship training in FE colleges for each of the last 10 academic years. It also sets out the average cost per apprentice learner at colleges.Academic YearApprentice learners participating in collegesAverage cost per apprentice2012/13285,000£1,9902013/14284,700£1,5802014/15293,300£1,5702015/16302,900£1,6102016/17301,600£1,6602017/18251,600£1,8302018/19206,800£2,2302019/20180,200£2,5102020/21159,400£2,5902021/22153,400£2,970 Average costs are rounded to the nearest £10 and participation volumes to the nearest 100.The fall in apprentices undertaking training in FE colleges since 2016/17 reflects an overall decrease in apprenticeship starts, the removal of often low-quality apprenticeship frameworks and the increase in Independent Training Providers and Higher Education Institutions delivering apprenticeships training.The average cost per apprentice is calculated based on learners at college who undertook apprenticeship training for at least one month or more during the academic year. These cover all training and assessment costs for the learner, including additional payments provided to the employer and/or provider, such as for additional learning support. These costs do not include payments for the COVID-19 employer incentive scheme which ran from August 2020 to January 2022The increase in cost per apprentice learner at FE colleges is the result of our reforms to improve the quality of apprenticeships. This includes the introduction of more than 650 new apprenticeship standards designed by employers, the introduction of rigorous and independent end-point assessment, and the requirement that apprentices spend at least 20% of their time in off-the-job training.

Higher Education: Artificial Intelligence

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of (a) ChatGPT and (b) other artificial intelligence software on the academic integrity of higher education courses.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment with the Office for Students of the potential impact of artificial intelligence software, including ChatGPT, on the academic integrity of higher education courses.

Robert Halfon: The department is mindful of the rapid technological change in this area, which is why the Office for Artificial Intelligence (AI) is developing an agile and adaptable regulatory framework for AI, which will use a test-and-learn approach to ensure their regulatory approach remains flexible and relevant.The department has already taken decisive action to tackle provision of cheating services with new legislation enacted in June 2022 as part of the Skills and Post-16 Education Act. Deterring, detecting and addressing academic cheating and misconduct remain a high priority for the government. The department will work with the Office for Students and the Office for AI to build our understanding of the potential risks posed to higher education standards by assistive tools, such as ChatGPT and other forms of AI software. The department will keep our programme of measures under review to ensure we identify the best means to tackle them.

Students: Loans

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of all students received the full student maintenance loan outside of London in (a) 2012, (b) 2015 and (c) 2021.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of all students received the full student maintenance loan in London in (a) 2012, (b) 2015 and (c) 2021.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of students received the minimum student maintenance loan outside of London in (a) 2012, (b) 2015 and (c) 2021.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of all students received the minimum student maintenance loan in London in (a) 2012, (b) 2015 and (c) 2021.

Robert Halfon: The Student Loans Company (SLC) has provided the figures below, which outlines the proportion of students who received the minimum and maximum student maintenance loan whilst studying in or outside London in the 2012/13, 2015/16 and 2021/22 academic years.The proportion of all students that received the minimum student maintenance loan in London in (a) 2012, (b) 2015 and (c) 2021:Academic year201220152021Proportion25.6%26.3%21.3%The proportion of students that received the minimum student maintenance loan outside of London in (a) 2012, (b) 2015 and (c) 2021:Academic year201220152021Proportion35.6%33.2%38.6%The proportion of all students that received the full student maintenance loan in London in (a) 2012, (b) 2015 and (c) 2021:Academic year201220152021Proportion67.1%64.9%62.3%The proportion of all students that received the full student maintenance loan outside of London in (a) 2012, (b) 2015 and (c) 2021:Academic year201220152021Proportion56.6%55.5%37.5% This data is not routinely held by the Department, so has been supplied by SLC for this request.The data above only include full-time undergraduate students, as the minimum and maximum maintenance loan amounts differ for part-time undergraduate students.The above figures are for students who are living elsewhere from their parental home. For students living at their parental home, the amount of loan awarded is the same, whether in London or outside London.

Ministry of Justice

Minimum Wage: Convictions

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of a criminal offence under section 31 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 in each of the last 12 years.

Edward Argar: The number of defendants convicted of an offence under section 31 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 in each of the last 12 years, on a principal offence basis, has been provided in Table 1.There were also 2 cases in which the defendant was committed for trial at Crown Court for an offence under section 31 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, one in the year ending June 2016 and one in the year ending June 2019. Due to data issues, the outcome of those two cases is unknown.Table 1 (xlsx, 23.2KB)

Law Commission

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to respond to the 13th Programme of Law Reform proposed by the Law Commission.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's relationship with the Law Commission.

Mike Freer: The Law Commission’s 13th Programme of Law Reform was approved for publication by the Secretary of State for Justice in December 2017. The Department retains an effective working relationship with the Commission through regular meetings between officials and Ministers. New funding and operating arrangements were jointly agreed in 2020 to ensure the organisation continues to deliver law reform to a high quality that meets the needs of Government, the economy and society.

Law Commission

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish the Report on the implementation of Law Commission proposals for 2018 to 2019.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish the Report on the implementation of Law Commission proposals for 2019 to 2020.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish the Report on the implementation of Law Commission proposals for 2020 to 2021.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish the Report on the implementation of Law Commission proposals for 2021 to 2022.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish the Report on the implementation of Law Commission proposals for 2022 to 2023.

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department published reports on Law Commission proposals it has (a) implemented and (b) not implemented in the preceding 12 months in the period between 2018 and 2022.

Mike Freer: A draft of the Government’s report on the implementation of Law Commission recommendations is currently being prepared and is expected to be laid before Parliament as soon as practicable this year. It will provide an update on the implementation status of all relevant Law Commission recommendations since the report was last published in 2018.

Ministry of Justice: Written Questions

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of (a) ordinary and (b) named-day written questions their Department answered on time in 2022.

Mike Freer: In 2022, the Ministry of Justice answered 94% of ordinary and 89% of named day Written Parliamentary Questions on time. Please note that these figures have been pulled from the Ministry of Justice’s internal data and may not be a fully accurate representation of the Department’s timeliness.

Crown Court and Magistrates Courts: Repairs and Maintenance

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) Magistrate Court and (b) Crown Court sitting days were lost due to planned and unplanned maintenance in 2022.

Mike Freer: Based on manually collated data, in the 2022 calendar year 305 Magistrates’ Court sitting days and 380 Crown Court sitting days were lost as a result of planned and unplanned maintenance.This represents less than 1% of sitting days during this period.We will have spent over £175 million on court maintenance and repairs in the two years to April 2023, to enhance the resilience of the estate and maintain court capacity. The HMCTS estate is kept under regular review and spending is prioritised to ensure that buildings are safe, secure, meet statutory requirements and protect continuity of service. When unexpected breakdowns occur, officials and contractors make it a priority to complete repairs quickly and minimise any impacts on hearings, as far as possible.

Energy: Meters

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many warrants to access utility meters were sought in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK in each month since January 2020.

Mike Freer: The judicial systems in both Scotland and Northern Ireland are devolved, and the Ministry of Justice holds no data in respect of applications made in those jurisdictions.Monthly breakdowns for England and Wales, in the period between January 2020 and December 2022, are included in the attached table. These data are management information and are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics. The data provided is the most recent available and for that reason might differ slightly from any previously published information.The Government is committed to supporting all households with the Energy Price Guarantee - saving a typical household c.£900 this winter – plus the £400 discount on energy bills. The most vulnerable households will get £1,200, plus other cost of living support delivered via benefits and pensions.Table_122504 (xlsx, 45.1KB)

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2022 to Question 109493 on Department for International Trade: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, what the names were of the hotels at which the UK DSE’s Senior Military Advisor stayed in (a) the Republic of Korea and (b) Turkey.

Nigel Huddleston: The Department for International Trade does not disclose the names of hotels used by either officials or ministers for security reasons.

Overseas Trade: Service Industries

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many (a) services exporters and (b) services importers there were in each region of England in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022; and what percentage of businesses located in each of those regions were (a) services exporters and (b) services importers in those years.

Andrew Bowie: Data on the number of businesses exporting and importing services for each region of England are published by the Office for National Statistics. The latest data available is for 2020 and can be found at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/businessservices/datasets/annualbusinesssurveyimportersandexportersregionalbreakdownData for the percentage of businesses in each region is not available.

Department for International Trade: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to her Department’s publication of electronic purchasing card spending over £500, what the location was of hotel accommodation on which (a) £2,058.10 was spent on 7 June 2021 and (b) £1,724.20 on 10 July 2021; for which individuals that accommodation was purchased; and what the purpose was of the stay at those hotels.

Nigel Huddleston: £2,058.10: The location for this hotel is Busan, South Korea. This transaction relates to four nights hotel accommodation costs incurred for three UK Defence and Security Exports staff who attended the Maritime Defence Industry International Exhibition (Madex 2021). £1,724.20: The location for this hotel is Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The accommodation covered four nights and was for the former Minister of State for Investment, my noble Friend Lord Grimstone of Boscobel, and one official. The travel was to attend events with investors onboard HMS Defender as part of the Carrier Strike Group’s visit to Saudi Arabia.

Overseas Trade: Products

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many (a) goods exporters and (b) goods importers there were in each region of England in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022; and what percentage of businesses located in each of those regions were (a) goods exporters and (b) goods importers in those years.

Andrew Bowie: Data on the number of businesses exporting and importing goods for each region of England are published by HMRC. The latest data available is up to Q3 2022 and can be found at: https://www.uktradeinfo.com/media/o2mddj5d/rts_q3_2022.xlsxData for the percentage of businesses in each region is not available.

Department for International Trade: Visits Abroad

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much her Department has spent on (a) flights and (b) hotel accommodation for visits by (i) officials and (ii) Ministers to the US since September 2022.

Nigel Huddleston: I refer the Hon. Member for Brentford and Isleworth to the answer I gave her today, UIN: 112152.

Energy Charter Treaty

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the statement by the former Energy Minister in the press release published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy entitled UK strengthens protections for taxpayers in energy treaty negotiations on 24 June 2022, what assessment she has made of the potential risk to taxpayers of legal challenges made through other investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms.

Nigel Huddleston: The UK has investment agreements with ISDS provisions with over 90 trading partners, including within the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). There has never been a successful ISDS claim brought against the UK, nor has the threat of potential claims affected the Government’s legislative programme.

Department for International Trade: Waste

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to her Department’s Greening Government Commitments for 2021-25, how many tonnes of food waste were produced from her Departmental estate in Financial Year (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23 up to 31 December 2022.

Nigel Huddleston: The Department for International Trade have started collecting food waste data from April 2022 and the data for April 1st 2022 to December 31st 2022 will be published in the Greening Government Commitments Annual Report Annual Report covering 2022-2023.

Department for International Trade: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2022 to Question 107079 on Department for International Trade: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, how many purchases with a value less than £500 were made against her Department’s budget through a Government procurement card in 2021.

Nigel Huddleston: The Department made 2,756 transactions on a government procurement card valued under £500 in 2021.

Department for International Trade: USA

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much her Department spent on (a) flights and (b) hotel accommodation for her trip to Washington D.C. in November 2022.

Nigel Huddleston: The full details of Department for International Trade Ministerial travel can be found at the following location: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dit-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.

Department for International Trade: Working Conditions

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department takes to (a) collect and (b) evaluate feedback on working conditions for civil servants in her Department.

Nigel Huddleston: The annual Civil Service People Survey and departmental Pulse Surveys are the primary methods used to collect feedback on working conditions for Civil Servants in the Department for International Trade (DIT). The results of these surveys are evaluated and used to inform DIT’s overall people strategy. DIT staff are also invited to provide feedback as part of the exit process. Additionally, DIT holds regular dialogue with Trade Unions where feedback on working conditions is collected.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the WTO General Council decision to extend the deadline for the TRIPS Council to reach agreement on waiving patent protections for covid-19 tests and treatments by six months, whether her Department has made an assessment of the effect of that decision on (a) the rate of covid-19 infections, (b) the rate of covid-19 related deaths in the global south and (c) the Government's commitments to promote equitable access to vaccines and global health security.

Greg Hands: The June 2022 WTO TRIPS Decision streamlines existing compulsory licensing processes for COVID-19 vaccines. It does not waive patents. The WTO General Council in December agreed to extend the deadline to determine whether to include therapeutics and diagnostics in this Decision, but no timeline was set. HM Government recognises that COVID-19 remains a serious challenge and that we need to promote equitable and effective distribution of COVID-19 products. We continue to work with international partners to support and accelerate distribution globally.

Department for International Trade: Freedom of Information

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many staff work in her Department's information rights unit.

Nigel Huddleston: As of 11 January, there are 8 members of staff in the Information Rights Unit (7.8 FTE).

Trade Agreements: Japan

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2022 to Question 104087 on Trade Agreements: Japan, on which dates the UK-Japan Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development has met since the UK-Japan Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into effect.

Greg Hands: The UK-Japan Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) has so far been convened twice. It was held first on the 13th October 2021 and secondly, on the 1st December 2022.

Trade Agreements: Japan

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2023 to Question 112041 on Trade Agreements: Japan, if he will publish details of the 15 working groups, committees and dialogues provided for.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade has already published details from a number of working groups, committees and dialogues established by the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. We endeavour to publish minutes where possible and, once completed and agreed with Japan, they are uploaded to the following site: www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-japan-cepa-documents. For the UK-Japan Financial regulatory forum further details can also be found on gov.uk: www.gov.uk/government/publications/inaugural-uk-japan-financial-regulatory-forum.

Department for International Trade: Freedom of Information

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the report entitled DIT action plan to achieve FOI timeliness compliance, published on 7 October 2022, whether her Department's information rights unit has delivered additional training on the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to civil servants.

Nigel Huddleston: Additional training on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has been given to civil servants responsible for drafting and reviewing FOI responses at the Department for International Trade in line with the action plan. This training is in addition to broader awareness sessions and dates are available for colleagues to book.

Department for International Trade: Freedom of Information

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many freedom of information requests received before 8 September 2022 are awaiting a response her Department.

Nigel Huddleston: None.

Department for International Trade: USA

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2022 to Question 111607 on Department for International Trade: USA, for what reason a full summary of (a) travel and (b) hotel costs were not provided in that answer.

Nigel Huddleston: The details of ministerial and senior officials’ overseas travel, including that to the United States of America (USA) is published as part of the Department’s commitments under the transparency process. This data, including the costs of travel and accommodation can be found at the following locations: Ministerial travel - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dit-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings Senior Official travel - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dit-senior-officials-travel-hospitality-and-permanent-secretary-meetings

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Hong Kong: Legal Profession

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to help protect legal professionals working overseas in Hong Kong in the context of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress interpretation of articles 14 and 47 of the Hong Kong National Security Law and recent findings that these professionals have been harassed by pro-Beijing camps.

Leo Docherty: The harassment of human rights lawyers in Hong Kong by the authorities is unacceptable and undermines commitments made in the Sino-British Joint Declaration. As a co-signatory, we will continue to hold China to its international obligations. We have called on the Chief Executive to respect rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, and to uphold the rule of law. We will watch closely how the Chief Executive and Hong Kong authorities act to implement the 30 December interpretation of the National Security Law.

India: Disaster Relief

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to provide support to people who have been evacuated from their homes in Joshimath, India.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The British High Commission in New Delhi and British Deputy High Commission in Chandigarh are monitoring the situation in Joshimath, India. Our thoughts are with all those affected.The UK and India are partners supporting the achievement of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, including through our membership of the Coalition for Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure. This will help improve the quality and resilience of infrastructure in fragile states such as Uttarakhand.

North Korea: Nuclear Weapons

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his US counterpart on the announcement by North Korea that it would expand its nuclear arsenal.

Leo Docherty: The UK is deeply concerned by reports that DPRK plans to increase its stockpile of nuclear warheads despite repeated calls to cease development of its nuclear programme. This follows reports that the DPRK may be planning to conduct a nuclear test, its first since 2017. We are working closely with our allies and partners, including the US, to strongly urge the North Korean regime to return to talks and take credible steps towards denuclearisation. We remain committed to securing peace on the Korean peninsula, working closely with allies and partners in upholding the rules-based international system and securing an end to DPRK's illegal activities.

Hong Kong: Migrants

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2023 to Question 119176 on Hong Kong: Migrants, whether the Minister will hold these discussions personally.

Leo Docherty: Ministers from across Government worked closely to enable the successful launch of the BN(O) visa route and Welcome Programme in 2021. This work continues at official level to ensure the ongoing smooth delivery of these programmes.

Pakistan: Ahmadiyya

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his counterpart in Pakistan on (a) the persecution of Ahmadi Muslims and (b) the alleged desecration of Ahmadi places of worship in that country.

Leo Docherty: Protecting freedom of religion or belief for minority communities is central to the UK Government's human rights engagement in Pakistan. The Minister for Development raised the treatment of Ahmadi Muslims with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on 9 January. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Minister for South Asia, also raised this issue with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on 14 December, and with Ministry of Interior officials on 8 December. The British High Commission in Islamabad continues to engage at a senior level with government representatives and civil society; the High Commissioner raised the issue with Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar on 4 January.

Malawi: Cholera

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support he has offered to the Government of Malawi on (a) the ongoing cholera outbreak in that country and (b) the impact of that outbreak on education.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is monitoring the worsening cholera outbreak in Malawi and has allocated £500,000 towards the Government of Malawi's response. This will contribute to the establishment of community oral rehydration points, provision of urgent cholera supplies, strengthening measures to prevent spread of cholera, rapid water testing, and repair and treatment of boreholes. In addition, the UK has funded the deployment of technical support and provided funding to support the response in refugee camps. Schools have closed for at least two weeks in Blantyre and Lilongwe districts and this will negatively impact education. As part of COVID, the Global Partnership for Education (to which the UK is the main donor) had funded boreholes for handwashing in schools and the UK is working with partners on the steps needed to re-open schools while keeping children safe.

Malawi: Cholera

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is providing support to the (a) the Government of Malawi and (b) non-governmental organisations working in Malawi to help support their response to the outbreak of cholera in that country.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is monitoring the worsening cholera outbreak in Malawi and has allocated £500,000 towards the Government of Malawi's response. This will contribute to the establishment of community oral rehydration points, provision of urgent cholera supplies, strengthening measures to prevent spread of cholera, rapid water testing, and repair and treatment of boreholes. In addition, the UK has funded the deployment of technical support and provided funding to support the response in refugee camps. We have also provided technical support to the World Health Organisation (WHO) through the Standby Partnership network by deploying a water sanitation expert in Lilongwe this month to help tackle the cholera outbreak in Malawi. Further UK funding is also being disbursed through the humanitarian Start Fund to support cholera work in refugee camps through the non-governmental organisation Welthungerhilfe. The UK will continue to work together with all organisations to strengthen coordination and support partners using both human and financial resources to tackle the cholera outbreak.

Pakistan: Ahmadiyya

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Pakistan following reports of attacks, harassment and the severe marginalisation of the Ahmadi community in that country.

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made recent representations to his Pakistani counterpart on the persecution of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan.

Leo Docherty: Pakistan is an FCDO human rights priority country. Protecting freedom of religion or belief for minority communities is central to the UK Government's human rights engagement in Pakistan. Minister for Development Andrew Mitchell raised the treatment of Ahmadi Muslims with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on 9 January. On 14 December 2022 Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia and Minister for Human Rights, also raised this issue with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The British High Commission in Islamabad continues to engage at a senior level with government representatives and civil society; the High Commissioner raised the matter with Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar on 4 January.

Somaliland: Human Rights

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Somaliland.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The human rights situation in Somaliland deteriorated in 2022, in particular the curtailing of media freedoms, restrictions on the freedoms of assembly and expression and the use of disproportionate force and live fire to disperse protestors. We see the promotion of respect for human rights as essential to peace and stability. We will continue to monitor the human rights situation in Somaliland and to work with human rights defenders across Somaliland to use our collective voice to call for change.

Centre for Information Resilience: Finance

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department provides funding to the Centre for Information Resilience.

Leo Docherty: The FCDO provides funding to the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR). We work with them on human rights and countering disinformation. They are experts on tracking disinformation narratives that our adversaries are using to undermine social cohesion and norms around the world, as well as using open-source investigation methods to identify and verify digital content showing abuse of human rights. Following the coup in Myanmar, we established and funded the Myanmar Witness programme, run by CIR, to collect and verify evidence of serious human rights violations and abuses. This evidence could be used in any future legal proceedings.

Middle East: Sanctions

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in Saudi Arabia on sanctions in the Middle East.

David Rutley: The Foreign Secretary has not raised sanctions in the Middle East in his conversations with his Saudi counterpart so far. However, officials at our Embassy in Riyadh discuss how to prevent destabilising activity in the Middle East regularly with their Saudi counterparts, including through the use of sanctions designations.

Alaa Abdel Fattah

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Egyptian Government on the release of British national Alaa Abd el-Fattah.

David Rutley: The UK Government makes regular representations about Mr Alaa Abd El Fattah's imprisonment, welfare and lack of consular access, and will continue to do so until his case is resolved. The Foreign Secretary has raised the case with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry on several occasions. The Prime Minister raised consular access with President Sisi on 7 November and the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa has also raised Mr El-Fattah's case on a number of occasions, most recently on 5 December with the Egyptian Ambassador. The British Embassy Cairo also raise his case regularly with the Egyptian authorities.

Ukraine: Cereals

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential steps that could be taken to increase the safety of grain export from Ukraine.

Leo Docherty: Russian bombing continues to ruin crops and damage railways and prevents Ukrainian grain from getting onto world food markets, contributing to global food insecurity. The UK is supporting Ukraine to mitigate the impacts of Russia's actions, and help ensure Ukraine can export its grain. We have worked closely with the UN and like-minded partners to develop and ensure the continued success of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, under which almost 17 million tonnes of grain have been exported from Ukrainian Black Sea ports. We have provided £10 million for equipment to move grain by rail to neighbouring countries.

Nigeria: Elections

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential risk that the election in Nigeria on 25 February 2022 will be (a) postponed and (b) have its results voided as a result of insecurity.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The country faces multiple, complex security challenges. The ability to deliver free, fair and safe elections on 25 February 2023, is a significant test for Nigerian democracy. The Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission has prepared a number of measures to ensure it can deliver polls that reflect the will of the Nigerian people. The UK have provided them with over £2 million since 2019 to improve their institutional capacity and processes, including funding new technology, strategic planning and a new logistics framework. We continue to provide support to civil society to improve transparency and voter education using new provisions in the 2022 Electoral Act.

Germany: Synagogues

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his German counterpart on reports that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps carried out terror attacks on synagogues in Germany.

Leo Docherty: The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs regularly engages with his German opposite on a variety of issues, including security matters, most recently on 5 January for the UK-Germany Strategic Dialogue. Germany is a likeminded and capable security partner with whom we enjoy a strong relationship.

Transcaucasus: Roads

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help support the re-opening of the Lachin corridor in Nagorno Karabakh.

Leo Docherty: The UK Government has made clear that the closure of the Lachin corridor during winter risks severe humanitarian consequences. Officials are in contact with humanitarian agencies, including the ICRC, about their assessment of the impact of the closure and the Government is a significant donor to agencies providing assistance on the ground. I [Minister Docherty] issued a statement highlighting the importance of re-opening the Lachin corridor on 13 December and our Ambassadors in the region and other senior UK officials have reinforced this message with key interlocutors. We also called for early resolution of this issue in our interventions in Vienna at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on 15 December and in New York at the UN Security Council on 20 December.

Armenia: Azerbaijan

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) appropriateness of Russian forces upholding the peace between Armenian and Azerbaijan.

Leo Docherty: At this time the UK Government has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of the Russian 'peacekeeping' forces although we are aware of the terms of their deployment, as set out in the Trilateral Ceasefire Agreement of 2020. Any deployment of international observers should follow recognised and accepted international norms. We have been clear that there can be no military settlement to this conflict. As such, we welcome the continued efforts of international partners, including the recent deployment of EU and OSCE Monitoring Missions, to support stability and security in the region.

Armenia: Azerbaijan

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Armenia and (b) Azerbaijan on de-escalating of tensions between those nations following recent developments in the Lachin corridor.

Leo Docherty: I [Minister Docherty] issued a statement highlighting the importance of re-opening the Lachin corridor on 13 December and our Ambassadors in the region and other senior UK officials have reinforced this message with key interlocutors. This is consistent with our long-standing support for international efforts to facilitate a sustainable and peaceful settlement to the conflict. I [Minister Docherty] spoke to Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Bayramov on 17 September and met the Azerbaijani Ambassador on 9 November. The Rt. Hon Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon met Armenian Foreign Minister Mirzoyan on 15 December and reinforced the importance of de-escalation and a return to internationally facilitated negotiations. We continue to urge the governments of both Azerbaijan and Armenia to abide by all ceasefire commitments in good faith.

Transcaucasus: Roads

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will support an independent fact finding mission on the Lachin corridor.

Leo Docherty: The UK Government's primary objective has been to restore freedom of movement along the Lachin corridor in line with agreed principles and to avoid a situation requiring a humanitarian response. If an independent fact-finding mission was welcomed by all parties and would contribute to an early solution, then the UK would, in principle, support it. We have been clear that there can be no military settlement to this conflict. As such, we welcome the continued efforts of international partners, including the recent deployment of EU and OSCE Monitoring Missions, to support stability and security in the region.

Afghanistan: Refugees

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions had with the Pakistani Government on the treatment of Afghan refugees in that country.

Leo Docherty: The UK is a member of Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees, a policy group established in 2019 to bring together regional governments, the United Nations and donors to support long-term solutions for Afghan refugees. We encourage Pakistan to include refugees in services provided to the wider population. The Foreign Secretary raised Afghanistan, including the relocation of eligible Afghans, when he spoke to Foreign Minister Bhutto-Zardari on 20 December 2022. The UK has provided £6.5 million to support refugee preparedness in Pakistan and offer vital health services and additional nutritional support to communities hosting refugees.

Somalia: Politics and Government

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to manage risks associated with any potential breakdown in relations between the Puntland regional government and the government of Somalia.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The British Embassy in Mogadishu speaks regularly with political leaders across Somalia, including the Federal Government of Somalia and the Puntland authorities. We encourage dialogue and collaboration across Somalia's federal system to support an effective response to the challenges facing Somalia, including the fight against al-Shabaab and the current humanitarian crisis. We will continue to convey these messages in our engagement with the Federal Government and the Puntland authorities, and to encourage Puntland to re-engage in Somalia's state-building agenda.

Somalia: China

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of Chinese activity in Somalia.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: China is a significant partner for many countries. The Somali Government pursues its international trading, development and political relations as it chooses. The UK's focus is on working closely with the Somali Government to support its ambitious programme for a more stable and peaceful Somalia. This includes the provision of humanitarian relief and crucial support for the fight against Al-Shabaab.

Ministry of Defence

Challenger Tanks

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January to Question 118815 on Challenger Tanks, how many main battle tanks he plans to upgrade to Challenger 3 each year until the completion of the upgrade programme.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January to Question 118815 on Challenger Tanks, when the Army will have 148 main battle tanks upgraded to Challenger 3.

Alex Chalk: The Challenger 3 prototypes will be delivered through 2023 and 2024 for use in demonstration trials. Once the design has been proven it is currently planned that the Challenger 3 tanks will be delivered to the Army from 2027, with Full Operating Capability delivered by 2030. The number of tanks to be delivered is under review.

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral statement of 20 December 2022 by the Minister for Defence Procurement, Official Report, column 143, if he will publish the rectification plans for the performance of maintenance contractors for service family accommodation.

Alex Chalk: There is no plan to publish the rectification plans provided by the maintenance contractors for the work they are undertaking on service family accommodation.

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service families were granted compensation vouchers for (a) missed appointments, (b) failed move-in, (c) hotel stay - subsistence, (d) incorrect tradesperson, (e) total loss of heating and (f) total loss of cooking facilities  in each month since April 2022.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service families have made claims for compensation vouchers for {a) missed appointments, (b) failed move-in, (c) hotel stay - subsistence, (d) incorrect tradesperson, (e) total loss of heating and (f) total loss of cooking facilities in each month since April 2022.

Alex Chalk: I refer the right hon. Member to my answer of 10 January 2022 to Question 114531.Armed Forces: Housing (docx, 23.1KB)

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many instances of (a) heating and (b) hot water failure were reported in Single Living Accommodation in each of the last three years.

Alex Chalk: Data is held on issues reported with heating and hot water in buildings designated as Single Living Accommodation however this is not held centrally or in the format requested, and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Ajax Vehicles: Testing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2022 to Question 109427 on Ajax Vehicles: Testing, whether Ajax has to undergo any further trials after a successful completion of Reliability and Growth trials in order to reach initial operating capability.

Alex Chalk: Ajax Initial Operating Capability is not dependent on the completion of the Reliability Growth Trials. However, findings from wider Validation and Verification testing will demonstrate the vehicle’s compliance with system requirements and vehicle readiness for Initial Operating Capability.

F-35 Aircraft

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many F-35s he plans the RAF will have in 2025.

Alex Chalk: On current planning by the end of 2025 the UK's Lightning Force will comprise 47 F-35B Lightning aircraft.

Military Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many payments were made to personnel who were training or deployed in response to Military Aid to Civilian Authority requests from 19 December 2022 to 3 January 2023; and what the cost of these payments was.

James Heappey: The Department is unable to provide a precise figure at this time. This information will not be available before the end of January as payments for this period have yet to be fully made through payroll.As announced on 23 December 2022, the Department has stated it will be providing an additional £20 for each day of cover, after tax, to military personnel supporting Military Aid to Civilian Authority requests.

Ministry of Defence: Freedom of Information

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason his Department has not published any Freedom of Information Responses since 4 October 2022.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We endeavour to publish all Freedom of Information (FOI) requests where information is being released to Gov.UK. We have recently resumed the FOI publishing process in January 2023 following an increase in Head Office resources. Every FOI request will continue to be responded to directly by the appropriate FOI team within the Ministry of Defence (MOD).There is no obligation for the MOD to publish responses to FOI requests to the extent it does. However, it is MOD policy to publish all responses to such requests, where information is being released. Not only is this good practice, it also demonstrates the Department's commitment to transparency.

Air Force: Military Aircraft

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which RAF aircraft are available for ministerial visits from across Government; how many times those aircraft have been used in the last five years; and what the total cost was of ministerial flights on those aircraft in that period.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I can confirm that the RAF provide a variety of aircraft for Ministerial travel including the BAe 146, A109 helicopter and Envoy IV CC Mk1. Ministers use of these and associated costs are shown within the Transparency Publications on GOV.UK.

National Security: Cybersecurity

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Senior Responsible Officer for the Joint Crypt Key Programme works full-time only on that programme.

Alex Chalk: The Joint Crypt Key Programme is in the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP). As a result, the nominated Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) will meet Government policy and allocate at least 50 per cent of their time to being SRO of the programme.

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much compensation is provided to Forces families per day to cover the increased energy costs caused by the use of temporary heaters each month since February 2022.

Alex Chalk: From 7 December 2022, Service personnel can claim a £20 cash compensation payment (paid via bank transfer) per 24 hours for total loss of heating, where temporary heating is provided. Between 1 April 2022 and 7 December 2022, Service personnel could claim a £1 compensation voucher per 24 hours for total loss of heating, where temporary heating is provided. Information prior to April 2022 is not held.

Ajax Lessons Learned Review

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September to Question 48267 on Ajax Lessons Learned Review, if he will make an oral statement to the House following the publication of the Ajax Lessons Learned Review by Clive Sheldon KC.

Alex Chalk: Yes.

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many buildings on his Department's estate are designated as Single Living Accommodation.

Alex Chalk: As at 1 April 2022, 4,292 buildings in the UK Defence Estate are designated as Single Living Accommodation.

Prime Minister: Staff

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2023 to Question 113309 on Prime Minister: Staff, how many people have held the post of Military Assistant to the Prime Minister since 2010.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Six individuals have held the post of Military Assistant to the Prime Minister since 2010.

Afghanistan: Refugees

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme were (a) received and (b) processed in each month since October 2022.

James Heappey: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to question 97484 for Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) application figures for October and November 2022.In December 2022, 1,401 applications were received, of which approximately 632 were duplicates, while an approximate 6,428 applications were processed. Of the processed applications, 2,741 decisions were issued to principal applicants which simultaneously processed 3,687 duplicate applications.ARAP application figures are collated on a monthly basis and as such complete figures for January 2023 figures can be provided when requested after the 31st of the month.Afghanistan: Refugees (docx, 22.9KB)

Afghanistan: Refugees

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy applications are awaiting an initial decision as of 12 January 2023.

James Heappey: As of 16 January 2023, there are an estimated 71,149 applications to process. The vast majority will be either duplicate or clearly ineligible, and we will continue focussing resource on finding those we know to be eligible for relocation.

Air Force

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what was the (a) establishment, (b) strength and (c) trained strength of the (i) pilot, (ii) weapon systems officers, (iii) weapon systems operators (ALM), (iv) weapons systems operators (cmn) and (v) weapons systems operators (ISR) branches and specialisations as of 1 December 2022.

James Heappey: I am withholding the information requested as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Ukraine: Sea King Helicopters

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the three Westland WS-61 Sea Kings donated to Ukraine are from the UK's stock of that aircraft.

James Heappey: The three aircraft transferred or planned to transfer to Ukraine were originally UK Ministry of Defence assets but were purchased by HeliOperations between 2018 and 2019. In response to a Ukranian request for helicopters, they were bought back from HeliOperations for fighting.

Air Force: Training

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average time is between a Weapons System Operator completing the Military Aviation Ground School and beginning the ISR Foundation Course.

James Heappey: The average time for a Weapons System Operator between completing the Military Aviation Ground School and beginning the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Foundation Course during the past 12 months is eight weeks.

Air Force: Training

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average time is between an Aircrew Weapons System Operator completing the Military Aviation Ground School and beginning the ISR Foundation Course.

James Heappey: The average time for an Aircrew Weapons System Operator between completing the Military Aviation Ground School and beginning the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Foundation Course during the past 12 months is eight weeks.

Air Force: Training

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average time is for a Weapons System Operator between completing the ISR Foundation Course and beginning the ISTAR OCU.

James Heappey: The average time for a Weapons System Operator between completing the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Foundation Course and beginning the Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) Operational Conversion Unit during the past 12 months is 60 weeks.

Air Force: Training

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether a Project Manager has been hired on the Next Generation Operational Training programme.

James Heappey: The Next Generation Operational Training portfolio is overseen by an appointed Senior Responsible Owner assisted by a Deputy and a supporting Project Management Organisation. Of the three core projects underway, Project Managers have been appointed to each (Gladiator, Interim Red Air Aggressor Training System and the Future Air Combat Manoeuvring Instrumentation System (FACMIS)).

Undocumented Migrants: English Channel

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel have been involved in Operational Isotrope since its inception.

James Heappey: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 12 January 2023 to Question 113173.Undocumented Migrants: English Channel (docx, 23.7KB)

Air Force: Training

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average time is for a Weapon Systems Operator between completing the ISR Foundation Course and beginning the ISTAR OCU.

James Heappey: The average time for a Weapons System Operator between completing the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Foundation Course and beginning the Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) Operational Conversion Unit during the past 12 months is 60 weeks.

Challenger Tanks

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of supplying Challenger battle tanks to the Ukrainian army.

James Heappey: As confirmed by the Secretary of State for Defence on 16 January 2023, the UK will send a squadron of 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, together with armoured recovery and repair vehicles. The gifting of these tanks is part of a significant new package of combat power to increase Ukraine's capabilities and accelerate Ukrainian success on the battlefield.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Payments

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2022 to Question 101728 on Universal Credit: Payments, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of collecting data on applications for hardship payments.

Guy Opperman: No such assessment has been made. Whilst we keep our policies on collecting statistics under review, no decisions have been taken about collecting data on applications for hardship payments.

Jobcentres

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average caseload was per work coach at Jobcentres in the last 12 months.

Guy Opperman: Cases are seen on their specific requirements determined by factors including which conditionality regime they are in, so there is no single measure of Cases per Work Coach. That said, the most commonly used measure in this regard is Intensive Work Search (IWS) Caseload per Work Coach, which (although imprecise) is the most useful barometer as these are the cases where the majority of Work Coach time is spent. AreaAverage IWS caseload per WC in over last 12 months  Central England109 London & Essex105 North East107 North West116 Scotland109 South112 Wales103

Jobcentres

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average caseload was at Jobcentres in each region in the last 12 months.

Guy Opperman: Information is not available at Jobcentre level however please find attached caseload information held for each area (region)AreaAverage caseload over last 12 monthsCentral England308,449London & Essex308,368North East104,246North West298,532Scotland117,398South299,402Wales68,863Grand Total 1,505,259

Universal Credit: Newcastle upon Tyne

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy press release entitled Millions of Britons to be able to request flexible working on day one of employment, published 5 December 2022, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of these measures on the condition of Universal Credit recipients in Newcastle upon Tyne; and if his Department will make an estimate of the potential impact of these measures on the number of Universal Credit recipients in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Guy Opperman: No such assessment has been made.

Standard of Living: Disability

Dr Kieran Mullan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help improve disabled people’s lives.

Tom Pursglove: The Disability Action Plan (DAP) will set out the action the Government will take in 2023 and 2024 to improve disabled people’s lives. It will contribute to this Government’s commitment to create a society that works for everyone, where all can participate fully and be included in society.The DAP will set out how we will go further, taking concerted action across Government to improve disabled people’s lives.We are also appointing a new cohort of Ministerial Disability Champions (MDCs), who will be accountable for their department’s contribution to the development and delivery of the DAP and will also act as a personal lead committed to championing disabled people within their department.

Employment: Disability

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department’s review into economic inactivity will take into account the barriers to employment faced by disabled people and the support needed to overcome them.

Guy Opperman: The review will identify and understand the barriers preventing people from joining the workforce and/or resulting in people leaving the workforce early. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a key focus of the review.

Jobcentres: Expenditure

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on running Jobcentres in the last 12 months.

Guy Opperman: To provide this information would incur disproportionate costs.

Early Retirement: Coronavirus

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the number of people who sought early retirement since the outbreak of covid-19.

Guy Opperman: It is not possible to be precise as to the people who took early retirement for the period covering the various stages of the pandemic.

Vacancies

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help fill gaps in the UK employment market.

Guy Opperman: We have comprehensive support in place to help DWP claimants to find, progress and stay in work, with additional support for groups we know are more likely to be inactive, such as those aged 50+ and people with a disability. We are looking to identify and understand the barriers preventing people from joining the workforce and/or resulting in people leaving the workforce early. Some of these people will not be able to work and it is right that government continues to support them; but there will be others who with the right engagement can be supported into the labour market.

Universal Credit

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made a recent estimate of the potential impact of increasing public sector pay on the cost to the public purse of Universal Credit payments.

Guy Opperman: No such estimate has been produced.

Pensions: Reform

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pension, with reference to the keynote speech made by the Minister for Science, Research and Innovation at Onward UK on 11 January 2023, whether his Department will publish the reforms to pensions intended to unleash the power of the city.

Laura Trott: Reforms are planned to come in this spring.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the financial impact of the decision to change the state pension age on women aged between 60 and 65 in the London Borough of Hounslow.

Laura Trott: Successive governments have given due consideration to the financial impact of the proposals made in the Pensions Acts of 1995, 2007, 2011 and 2014, that introduced changes to the State Pension age. These assessments have been published.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the number of women who were affected by the decision to increase the state pension age for women from 60 to 65 in the London Borough of Hounslow.

Laura Trott: Datasets can be found here: Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics (nomisweb.co.uk)

State Retirement Pensions

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a home responsibility protection qualifying year is deemed to have the same status as an earned income national insurance contribution qualifying year for assessing the required qualifying years for state pension contributions.

Laura Trott: Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) was available between 1978 and 2010. For people reaching State Pension age before 6 April 2010, HRP reduced the number of Qualifying Years needed for a basic State Pension. Each year of HRP reduced the required number of years for a full basic State Pension by one year. Since 2010, Home Responsibilities Protection has been replaced by National Insurance Credits for Parents and Carers. For people reaching State Pension age after 6th April 2010, all recorded previous years of HRP have been converted into years of National Insurance credits. For the basic and new State Pension, Qualifying Years of National Insurance credits have equal value to those of National Insurance contributions.

Social Security Benefits: Overpayments

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants subject to benefit overpayment recovery have been contacted by his Department to establish whether they are experiencing hardship as a result of the cost of living crisis since February 2022.

Tom Pursglove: Deductions are made under legislation and cover a broad range of contingencies, like the recovery of fines to prevent incarceration, the continuation of supply of electricity or gas, payment of rent arrears to prevent homelessness, child maintenance liabilities to their children, and provision for one-off items of expenditure through advances and the repayment of debts. Given this broad range of circumstances, there is no requirement to undertake an assessment of a benefit customer’s ability to make these payments. Instead, the amounts that can be deducted are capped in legislation; in effect, Parliament has made an affordability assessment through the exercise of this cap. DWP remains committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their deductions and encourages customers to contact DWP to discuss any concerns. The department has a well-established process for working with individuals to support them to manage repayment of Government debt to DWP. Our agents will always look to negotiate affordable and sustainable repayment plans. For overpayment deductions specifically, where a person feels they cannot afford the proposed rate of deduction for an overpayment recovery, they are encouraged to contact the department’s Debt Management to discuss a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment or cessation of the deduction. This message is included in all Debt Management notifications to customers. There is no minimum amount that a customer has to pay, and we have recently extended the time period for any reduced payment to remain in place. Customers who do contact Debt Management are routinely referred to the Money Advisor Network, who work in partnership with DWP, to offer free independent and impartial money and debt advice. We also remain committed to His Majesty’s Treasury’s Breathing Space policy, which provides those with problem debt the right to legal protections from creditor action for a period of 60 days to enable them to receive debt advice and enter into an appropriate debt solution. The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living this winter and is taking action to support people with their energy bills. The Government's Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical household around £900 this winter, based on what energy prices would have been under the current price cap - reducing bills by roughly a third. This is in addition to the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. We have also made Cost of Living Payments worth up to £650 (paid in two lump sums of £326 and £324) providing targeted support for around eight million low-income households on means-tested benefits. In addition, six million eligible disabled people have received a one-off Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 and pensioner households will have received a one-off payment of £300 alongside the Winter Fuel Payment.

Universal Credit

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of public sector employees are in receipt of Universal Credit.

Mims Davies: We do not hold this information. UC customers are not obliged to inform the Department what sector they are employed in. In addition DWP employees claiming Universal Credit have no obligation to inform DWP they are receiving benefits.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Water Companies: Fines

Richard Foord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many fines have been issued to water companies every year since 2019.

Richard Foord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been issued in fines to water companies since 1 January 2019.

Richard Foord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many fines were issued to South West Water since 1 January 2019.

Richard Foord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has issued been to South West Water in fines since 1 January 2019.

Rebecca Pow: The following fines have been imposed on water companies directly by Ofwat and as a result of prosecutions brought by the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate.Fines imposed on all water companiesYearNumber of prosecutions / finesTotal fines20198£6,756,72520203£852,00020218£102,490,001202211£4,448,083In addition to fines, water companies face other financial penalties such as financial undertakings from companies secured by Ofwat following enforcement cases. These include rebates to customers and money paid to charities and community groups.  Water companies can face financial penalties if they underperform against performance targets. Ofwat recently announced penalties for 2021-22, with almost £135 million being returned to customers. A breakdown of these penalties by water company can be found at: Final determinations of in-period outcome delivery incentives for 2021-22.

Vegetable Oils: Carbon Emissions

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect on UK carbon emissions of switching from diesel to hydrogenated vegetable oil as a transition fuel for industrial machinery.

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to incentivise switching from diesel to hydrogenated vegetable oil as a transition fuel for industrial machinery.

Trudy Harrison: Defra has made no such assessment and is not taking steps to incentivise this switch.The supply of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) as a fuel in road transport and in non-road mobile machinery is supported under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) certificate trading scheme. In 2021 HVO biodiesel supplied under the RTFO provided an average 89% greenhouse gas emissions saving compared to diesel. No data is gathered on the split between road vehicle and other end uses covered by the RTFO. It is also worth noting that the carbon reduction benefits of biofuels will vary depending on how they are produced. In 2021 the vast majority of HVO supplied was produced from used cooking oil. The average carbon reductions of some crop-based biofuels are significantly lower.

Hazardous Substances: EU Law

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which of the substances targeted for a restriction in EU REACH that are not considered a priority in the UK REACH work programme 2022-23 have been assessed as either (a) not used or rarely used in the UK or (b) well controlled in Great Britain; and how existing controls provide an equivalent level of protection to the proposed restriction at EU level for those substances assessed as well controlled in Great Britain.

Rebecca Pow: Defra and the Scottish and Welsh Governments work closely with the Health and Safety Executive, the Environment Agency and external stakeholders to identify priorities under UK REACH.We have published our rationale for the priorities identified for the current UK REACH work programme in 2022 to 2023: The Rationale for UK REACH Priorities 2022 to 2023. This explains why particular proposals were not adopted as priorities at this time, for example setting out where substances are already controlled in GB under other regulations and/or not widely used within the UK.We will continue to review the substances not identified as priorities this year and consider any evidence of risk within GB in developing the REACH work programme for future years.

Agriculture: Antibiotics

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of updating regulations under existing legislation to regulate use of antibiotics on farms.

Mark Spencer: The UK Government remains committed to reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals while safeguarding animal welfare.Changes to the law on veterinary medicines is one of the tools which can be used to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing in animals and, as one element of a programme of interventions to help deliver the UK's 5-year national action plan, it is our intention to strengthen our national law in this area.The Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 (VMR) set out the controls on the production, distribution, possession, dispensing and administration of veterinary medicines in Great Britain. Over the past year the Veterinary Medicines Directorate has engaged in a comprehensive dialogue with stakeholders about a broad range of changes that we propose to the VMR including new measures to help tackle anti-microbial resistance.We are now preparing to publish a formal consultation paper setting out our proposals which will provide the opportunity for all affected stakeholders to express their views. Following the public consultation, we anticipate laying new legislation in 2023.

Avian Influenza: Vaccination

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason there are no avian influenza vaccine trials taking place in the UK.

Mark Spencer: The UK Government remains committed to reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals while safeguarding animal welfare.Changes to the law on veterinary medicines is one of the tools which can be used to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing in animals and, as one element of a programme of interventions to help deliver the UK’s 5-year national action plan, it is our intention to strengthen our national law in this area.The Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 (VMR) set out the controls on the production, distribution, possession, dispensing and administration of veterinary medicines in Great Britain. Over the past year the Veterinary Medicines Directorate has engaged in a comprehensive dialogue with stakeholders about a broad range of changes that we propose to the VMR including new measures to help tackle anti-microbial resistance.We are now preparing to publish a formal consultation paper setting out our proposals which will provide the opportunity for all affected stakeholders to express their views. Following the public consultation, we anticipate laying new legislation in 2023.

Avian Influenza: Disease Control

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has provided guidance to premises affected by an avian influenza outbreak on when they can reopen their businesses.

Mark Spencer: Bespoke guidance on the cleansing and disinfection (C&D) requirements are provided by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) directly to the keeper of flocks affected by avian influenza. A written plan for the work is completed by the keeper and agreed with APHA, setting out in detail how the various actions will be carried out and which approved disinfectants will be used. The full process involves actively cleansing, degreasing, and disinfecting the premises, and then repeating the process one week later. Once 21 days have elapsed since the date APHA have agreed they are satisfied with the secondary C&D work undertaken at the premises, restocking of birds can begin under a licence issued by APHA. How quickly the process is completed, and therefore when business activity can resume is a commercial decision by the keeper.

Agricultural Products: EU Law

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, whether she has plans to (a) revoke, (b) replace or (c) retain the Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.

Mark Spencer: In reviewing REUL, Defra is committed to ensuring our laws deliver improved outcomes and the highest standards in a way that is tailored to the needs of UK consumers and business. The UK has world leading standards backed by a rigorous legislative framework and it is only right that we should evaluate REUL to ensure it continues to meet our needs. Defra is in the process of analysing and assessing its REUL stock to determine what should be preserved as part of domestic law, and what should be repealed, or amended. This work will determine how we use the powers in the Bill, including, if appropriate, in relation to Regulation (EC) No 1308/2013.

Avian Influenza: Disease Control

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an estimate of the number of birds that have been culled as a result of avian flu by species since 2020.

Mark Spencer: To prevent further spread of avian influenza birds on an infected premises are humanely culled. During the current highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 outbreak (26 October 2021 to 10 January 2023) 7.48 million birds have died or been culled for avian influenza disease control purposes including 4.59 million chickens, 1.79 million turkeys, 980 thousand ducks, 48 thousand geese, 31 thousand quail, 35 thousand gamebirds and 7 thousand other captive birds.

Shellfish: Sales and Transport

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to bring forward legislative proposals on banning the live (a) sale and (b) transportation of crustaceans.

Mark Spencer: The Government is considering carefully the implications of recognising in law the sentience of decapod crustaceans and is working constructively with industry and stakeholders on these issues.Currently legislation protects all animals from being transported in a way likely to cause injury or suffering. Invertebrates are protected from injury or unnecessary suffering during transportation by a general duty of care provision in Article 4 of The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006 (WATEO) and equivalent national legislation in Scotland and Wales. WATEO requires that animals are transported in receptacles or means of transport under conditions (in particular with regard to space, ventilation, temperature and security) and with such supply of liquid and oxygen, as are appropriate for the species concerned.

Dogs: Smuggling

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussion with the Border Force on steps to tackle illegal puppy smuggling.

Mark Spencer: Defra meets regularly with Border Force to discuss various operational issues including the issues around illegal puppy smuggling. Defra's operational department, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, work collaboratively with Border Force and other operational partners at ports, airports and inland, sharing intelligence to enforce the Pet Travel rules, disrupt illegal imports, safeguard the welfare of animals and seize non-compliant animals.

Antibiotics: Drug Resistance

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on a cross-government approach to tackling antibiotic resistant diseases.

Mark Spencer: Defra is a co-signatory with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) of the UK's Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) 5 year National Action Plan (2019-2024) and the UK's 20 year Vision to Contain and Control AMR by 2040. These plans both take a One Health, whole of government approach. Defra and DHSC work closely together at all levels, together with other government departments, to deliver this plan.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to help eradicate bovine tuberculosis; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Spencer: Defra is driving forward an ambitious strategy to eradicate bovine TB in England which includes a range of evidence-led interventions to tackle the disease in both cattle and wildlife.Our comprehensive strategy includes strengthening cattle testing and movement controls, introducing new help for herd owners to improve biosecurity measures on farms and to help manage down the risk of bringing the disease into their herds and supporting the deployment of badger vaccination.Developing new and better tools is an important part of our programme of work. We continue to fund major research, including on cattle vaccination and improved diagnostics. That funding has already resulted in a major breakthrough by APHA in developing a test that can differentiate TB-infected among vaccinated cattle (a DIVA test). World-leading BCG vaccination trials in cattle began in England and Wales in June 2021. Our aim is to have a deployable TB vaccine for cattle within the next 5 years.

Livestock: Antibiotics

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential merits of a ban on the overuse of antibiotics on healthy farm animals to help prevent antimicrobial resistance.

Mark Spencer: The UK Government is committed to reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals while safeguarding animal welfare. Antibiotics are an essential part of veterinary medicine. Failing to use antibiotics in animals which need them compromises animal health and welfare. It has been our position for many years that we do not support the routine or predictable use of antibiotics, including where antibiotics are used to compensate for inadequate farming practices.The Veterinary Medicines Directorate annually record the sales and usage of antibiotics in food producing animals, and have surveillance programmes in place which test for antimicrobial resistance in bacteria from animals. In the UK, the use of antibiotics in food producing animals has reduced by 55% between 2014 and 2021, and in 2021 we recorded the lowest antibiotic use to date. As the Minister responsible for biosecurity, London Benyon regularly raises the risks of antimicrobial resistance in the relevant cross-Whitehall settings, including with counterparts at the Department of Health and Social Care.

Avian Influenza (Vaccination) (England) Regulations 2006

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether she plans to (a) retain, (b) replace and (c) revoke the Avian Influenza (Vaccination) (England) Regulations 2006.

Mark Spencer: Defra is in the process of analysing and assessing its REUL stock to determine what should be preserved as part of domestic law, and what should be repealed, or amended. This work will determine how we use the powers in the Bill, including in relation to the Avian Influenza (Vaccination) (England) Regulations 2006.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policy on the timing of the badger cull in Hampshire of the report by the Animal and Plant Health Agency entitled Year End Descriptive Epidemiology Report: Bovine TB in the Edge Area of England 2021 County: Hampshire; and if she will take steps to end the badger cull in Hampshire before 2024.

Mark Spencer: We are committed to achieving official freedom from Bovine TB for England by 2038 and intensive badger culling in areas where badgers are an important factor in spreading disease to cattle has been an important part of thisWe licenced the intensive cull areas this year, and plan to gradually build government-supported badger vaccination and surveillance. Badger culling would remain an option where epidemiological assessment indicates that it is needed.The descriptive epidemiology report for each county in the Edge Area is published annually, and available on GOV.UK.

Livestock: Dogs

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the National Sheep Association’s letter to Government on 26 August 2022 on its concerns about the potential impact of banning e-collars on the numbers of livestock killed by dogs.

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 September 2022 to Question 53520 on Animal Welfare: Electric Shock, what data her Department holds on the level of discomfort that e-collar systems cause in (a) livestock and (b) dogs; and if she will commission research in this area.

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department (a) holds any data and (b) has conducted any research on the number of dogs injured by e-collars.

Mark Spencer: The best proven method of preventing a dog from attacking livestock is to keep the dog on a lead when exercising around other animals, as advised by farmers and other keepers of livestock. The statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs includes guidance on how to keep dogs safe and under control. The code is available here: Code of practice for the welfare of dogs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Defra’s research into electric shock collars is available here: Science Search (defra.gov.uk) .

Animal and Plant Health Agency: Avian Influenza

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average length of time is between the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) receiving a report of suspected avian influenza in (a) wild birds and (b) kept birds on private land and (i) an APHA duty vet visiting to collect samples and (ii) a protectionzone being established.

Mark Spencer: Since 1 October 2022 the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) have responded to 201 suspect cases in kept birds. Of these 140 have been confirmed as infected premises. For these cases, the average time between a report of suspicion of avian influenza in kept birds being made to APHA and (i) samples being taken was half a day, and (ii) the first disease control zone being put in place was one and a half days Avian influenza is not notifiable in wild birds. Members of the public are encouraged to report findings of dead wild birds in Great Britain to the Defra helpline. Reported dead wild birds which meet the collection criteria and are in an accessible location are collected within four days. No disease control zones have been put in place surrounding findings of avian influenza in wild birds during the current outbreak.

Textiles: Recycling

Alberto Costa: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for textiles.

Rebecca Pow: The Government recognises the environmental impact of the textiles industry, which is why we identified textiles as a priority waste stream in our 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy for EnglandIn 2021 Defra funded WRAP's Textiles 2030 programme, a voluntary business initiative with ambitious carbon and water targets. Signatories represent over 62% of clothing put on the UK marketWe published our response to the consultation on EPR in March 2022. We have no intention at present to extend EPR to textilesWe are considering the merits of an EPR scheme within a policy framework while we assess options to reduce waste and the environmental impact of textiles.

Dogs: Smuggling

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the timing of the legislative stages for the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals Bill) on levels of puppy smuggling.

Mark Spencer: The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was re-introduced to the House of Commons in May and will progress to Report stage as soon as Parliamentary time allows. It includes measures which tackle puppy smuggling.

Environment Agency: Finance

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing The Environment Agency's environmental protection budget to 2009-2010 levels.

Rebecca Pow: Funding for the Environment Agency's work is closely monitored and regularly reviewed against the Government's strategic and statutory goals for the environment, and to ensure that the EA can continue to carry out its statutory duties. This includes tackling environmental offences - last year record fines were handed to water companies, making clear polluters will pay. The EA's total budget this year is £1.650 billion, 18% of Defra's budget. This includes new ring-fenced money for specific enforcement activities as well as 4,000 more farm inspections and 500 more sewage treatment works inspections per year. We are currently going through aspects of business planning for the next financial year and will have a discussion with the agency about the priorities for the Government funding.

Air Pollution: Public Health

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a public awareness campaign on the health impacts and causes of air pollution.

Rebecca Pow: Defra is currently conducting a holistic review of the way we communicate air quality information to the public. This will ensure the public is provided with timely and relevant information about air pollution, the actions people can take to limit their personal exposure, the impacts of air pollution on their health, and their own influence on air quality. The findings of the review will support the development of future public facing air quality information. We ran a dedicated communications campaign, targeted at domestic burners, to improve awareness of the new regulations and to educate the public on the environmental and public health impacts of burning in their home to help reduce exposure to pollution. The Burn Better campaign focused on what the public can do to improve the way they burn, including switching to cleaner fuels, using approved appliances and maintaining their open fire or stove which includes advice on getting their chimney swept. Further information can be found here: Burn better: Making changes for cleaner air - Defra, UK

Plastics: Pollution

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of sequins on the level of plastic pollution in England.

Rebecca Pow: We recognise the environmental impact of the textiles industry, which is why we identified the sector as a priority for action in the Government’s 2018 Resources & Waste Strategy for England. A key part of this strategy is working with industry to reduce their environmental impact. In 2021 we funded Textiles 2030, our new voluntary programme delivered by our partner WRAP, with signatories representing more than 62% of all clothing placed on the UK market. Through Textiles 2030, WRAP is working with members to drive circular design. A toolkit has been produced for members to support design and production teams to make decisions that reduce waste, increase longevity and support recyclability.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Welsh Government

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she last met her counterpart in the Welsh Government.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she last met her counterpart in the Scottish Government.

Mark Spencer: The Secretary of State has regular meetings with counterparts in the Devolved Administrations to discuss a range of issues.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the level of Basic Payment Scheme funding was in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022; and whether this was a reduction on the level of funding in previous years.

Mark Spencer: £1,625 million and £1,371 million were available to be claimed and paid for the 2021 and 2022 BPS scheme years respectively. We have already set out plans for progressive reductions from 2021 onwards to all BPS payments, increasing payments for Countryside Stewardship and new Environmental Land Management schemes over the same period. Details of progressive reductions published online can be found here: Funding for farmers and land managers - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is her Department's policy that government procurement cards should not be used for purchases (a) of alcohol and (b) that could be made via an alternative compliant purchasing route.

Mark Spencer: Government Procurement Cards are one of many routes to market and purchasing. Cards are used for low value, low risk goods and services and non-contentious irregular items from one-off suppliers. These items can also be procured through a self-service purchase order route. Alcohol purchases are permitted only in exceptional circumstances and require additional approval from a senior civil servant.

Slaughterhouses: Animal Welfare

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to use the next stages of the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway to help ensure the high standards of animal welfare in abattoirs in the UK.

Mark Spencer: The Animal Health and Welfare Pathway maps out how farmers and government will work together to continually improve the health and welfare of our farmed animals, supported by the best science and evidence. It involves three mutually reinforcing pillars in making this change: financial incentives to help farmers deliver on-farm improvements; stimulating market demand through labelling and mandatory public disclosure to improve the accessibility, availability and affordability of higher welfare products; and, where needed, strengthening regulation to ensure the changes made endure. Following the post-implementation review of our welfare at killing legislation, and as part of our Action Plan for Animal Welfare, we are looking at a wide range of welfare at slaughter improvements that could be made to strengthen the regulatory baseline in slaughterhouses. Welfare at slaughter is a devolved matter, and the Government remains committed to working closely with the devolved administrations on our shared aims for animal welfare.

River Brent

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve water quality in the River Brent.

Rebecca Pow: Government is committed to improving water quality. In August 2022 we published our £56 billion plan to reduce sewage discharges. To tackle agricultural pollution, in November we launched a grant scheme to improve slurry storage on farms, alongside the £17 million expansion of our Catchment Sensitive Farming programme. In December we announced our ambitious suite of legally binding Environment Act targets including four targets to address pressures on the water environment and published the updated River Basin Plans which target specific action to improve all of our rivers and catchments, including the Brent, were published. The Environment Agency (EA) is working closely with partners in the Brent Catchment Partnership and Thames Water to deliver river improvement projects throughout the catchment. This includes both work to assess the impact Combined Sewer Overflow discharges have on the water quality of the River Brent and the restoration of overly modified sections of the Brent and its tributaries to allow for a more natural flow regime, flood performance benefits, and biodiversity enhancements.

Rivers: Suffolk

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the environmental condition of the River Gipping in Suffolk.

Rebecca Pow: The Government is committed to improving water quality. In August 2022 we launched the storm overflows plan which will require water companies to deliver their largest ever environmental infrastructure investment - £56 billion capital investment over 25 years. In December we announced our ambitious suite of legally binding Environment Act targets, including four targets to address pressures on the water environment. The Environment Agency works with partners to restore a more naturally functioning river which will support natural habitats and a rich biodiversity. Using Defra’s Water Environment Improvement Fund, the Environment Agency has worked with Suffolk Wildlife Trust on several projects to enhance wildlife and the resilience of the river environment to the impacts of climate change. The Environment Agency has also funded Groundwork to deliver the Yellow Fish Project (http://oilcare.org.uk/avoid-pollution/yellow-fish) which focused on pollution prevention messages to the community, businesses and schools in the towns of Needham Market and Stowmarket in 2019/20.

Motor Vehicles: Air Pollution

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure (a) roadside air pollution is kept under a legal limit and (b) the UK meets its air quality targets set under the Environment Act 2021.

Rebecca Pow: The Government has placed a duty on local authorities to keep air pollution within legal limits and we expect them to take action. The Government has provided £883m of dedicated funding to help local authorities develop and implement local NO2 air quality plans and support those affected by these plans. This sits alongside wider funding to support the transition to cleaner, more sustainable transport, including £2bn to kickstart a cycling and walking revolution, and £120m to support zero emission buses as part of the £3bn National Bus Strategy.The UK has a high ambition for domestic air quality. The targets to be set under the Environment Act 2021 and the policy paths by which they will be achieved will be announced shortly.Using new powers under the Environment Act 2021 we have on 7 December designated National Highways as a Relevant Public Authority which means National Highways will be required to collaborate with local authorities in developing and carrying out their Air Quality Action Plans. This means that all authorities with responsibility for roads in England are now required to work together to ensure that Air Quality Objectives are not exceeded at roadside.

Land: Environment Protection

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to help ensure that environmental protections are fully complied with on private land.

Rebecca Pow: Public and private land are subject to the same environmental protections. The United Kingdom is a world leader in environmental protections and Defra is committed to maintaining these Public bodies responsible for environmental protections such as the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Rural Payments Agency already help and advise landowners and tenants on how to comply where appropriate, and where necessary will enforce rules whether on public or private land The power of entry provisions contained in Section 108 of the Environment Act 1995 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/25/section/108#:~:text=(b)he%20apprehends%20on%20reasonable,Schedule%2018%20to%20this%20Act) do not distinguish private land from public land. The majority of the sites that the Environment Agency regulates by way of permit are on private land and are inspected in accordance with the applicable legislation. Decisions about compliance and enforcement are made in line with the Environment Agency's Enforcement & Sanctions Policy (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environment-agency-enforcement-and-sanctions-policy/environment-agency-enforcement-and-sanctions-policy).

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Written Questions

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to answer Questions 72403 and 72402 tabled on 26 October.

Rebecca Pow: Both questions UIN 72403 and UIN 72402 have now been answered.

River Graveney: Sewage

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times raw sewage has been released into the River Graveney in the last 12 months.

Rebecca Pow: Every April the Environment Agency (EA) publishes a report showing the number and duration of spills over the previous year here: https://environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/21e15f12-0df8-4bfc-b763-45226c16a8ac.The EA will publish the data for 2022 in April 2023.

Packaging: Recycling

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will update its calculation of the cost to households of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging.

Rebecca Pow: We published a detailed impact assessment (IA) in March 2022 alongside HM Government's response to the second consultation on Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) in March 2021. The IA set out the anticipated costs to households of pEPR, as well as the impact pEPR may have on the Consumer Price Impact (CPI). They IA and Government Response can be found here: Packaging and packaging waste: introducing Extended Producer Responsibility - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Sewage: Storage

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2022 to Question 71262 on Sewage: Storage, how many permits have been granted to each water company in England since January 2015 to regulate discharges from (a) sewer overflows and (b) wastewater treatment works.

Rebecca Pow: Permits for water companies are publicly available via: Environmental Permitting Regulations – Discharges to water and groundwater (data.gov.uk).

Incinerators

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take steps to prevent the (a) replacement and (b) upgrade of incineration plants in England.

Rebecca Pow: Defra has no plans to introduce a moratorium on new Energy from Waste capacity in England. There is no financial advantage for either the public sector or the market to deliver excess Energy from Waste capacity and proposed developments must not result in overcapacity of Energy from Waste treatment at a national or local level. We want to see greater plant efficiency through, for example, wider utilisation of the heat released during combustion in district heating networks.

Land Drainage

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to his Answer of 26 October 2022 to Question 65982, Land Drainage, when he plans to publish the review and decision on implementation of Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 in England.

Rebecca Pow: The review and decision were published on 10 January 2023. Government has accepted the review's recommendation to implement, subject to final decisions on scope, threshold, and process. There will be a public consultation on the regulatory impact assessment, mandatory standards, and statutory instrument later this year. Implementation is expected during 2024.

Rivers: Sewage

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish storm overflow spill data obtained through event duration monitoring for 2022.

Rebecca Pow: Every April the EA publish a report showing the number and duration of spills over the previous year here: https://environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/21e15f12-0df8-4bfc-b763-45226c16a8ac. They will publish the data for 2022 in April 2023.

Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Retain EU Law Bill, whether they intend to (a) retain (b) revoke or (c) replace the Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012.

Rebecca Pow: Defra is in the process of analysing and assessing its REUL stock to determine what should be preserved as part of domestic law, and what should be repealed, or amended. This work will determine how we use the powers in the Bill, including in relation to the Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012.

Heating: Air Pollution

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Clean Air Strategy published on 14 January 2019, whether the Government is on track to meet its target of reducing particulate emissions from wood and coal burning stoves to 30 per cent or less by the year 2030.

Rebecca Pow: In the Clean Air Strategy, we set out our aim to reduce fine particulate matter emissions from all sources against the 2005 baseline by 30% by 2020, and 46% by 2030. In February 2022 we published updated emissions estimates for 2020 which showed that PM2.5 emissions have reduced by 34% compared to 2005.

Air Pollution

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ensuring that PM2.5 levels in England are 10 µg m-3 or below by 2030.

Rebecca Pow: We have followed an evidence-based process working closely with internationally recognised experts to set air quality targets that are stretching but achievable.We have proposed targets for 2040 because this is when our evidence shows, that although challenging, they can be achieved everywhere.The measures required to meet 10 micrograms per cubic metre everywhere by 2030, such as restrictions on solid fuel burning and reduction of traffic, would have a disproportionate effect on individuals and small local businesses. This is due to locations in urban areas including, but not only, London which pose particular challenges to deliverability.

Sewage: Inland Waterways

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the Environment Agency on taking steps to prevent developers from misconnecting pipes in new homes and causing the leakage of sewage into waterways.

Rebecca Pow: Government is working with the Environment Agency and other regulators to hold the water industry to account. Ministers meet with Environment Agency to discuss a range of issues including sewage pollution on a regular basis.In August 2022 the most ambitious plan to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows in water company history was launched. There should be no doubt about the Government’s ambition and determination to prioritise storm overflows and sewage discharges.The review for making sustainable drainage systems mandatory in new developments was published on 10 January 2023. Government will now look at how best to implement it, through Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. This will make the right to connect surface water to public sewers conditional on the drainage system being approved.

Factory Farming: Antimicrobials

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the level of risk to human health of antimicrobial-resistant superbugs polluting rivers from nearby factory farms.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the level of risk to human health of antimicrobial-resistant superbugs polluting rivers from nearby factory farms.

Rebecca Pow: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Edmonton on 6 December 2022, PQ 99926.

Home Office

Visas: Foreign Investment in UK

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Written Statement of 12 January 2023, HCWS492 on The Tier 1 (Investor) route: Review of operation between 30 June 2008 and 6 April 2015, if she will publish the review in full.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Written Statement on The Tier 1 (Investor) route: Review of operation between 30 June 2008 and 6 April 2015 published on 12 January 2023, how many individuals connected to the Tier 1 (Investor) visa route her Department has identified as being at high risk of having obtained wealth through illicit financial activity and serious and organised crime, broken down by nationality; and how many individuals meeting those criteria were granted British citizenship.

Tom Tugendhat: The Home Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement of the 12 January 2023 provides the key findings of the review and represents the Home Office’s substantive response in relation to the operation of the Tier 1 Investor visa route between 30th June 2008 and 06th April 2015.As set out in the Home Secretary’s statement the review found a small minority of individuals connected to the route were at risk of having obtained their wealth through illicit or criminal means.Given the importance of protecting operational sensitivities in the law enforcement process, and guided by the advice we have received from our operational partners we will not be commenting further.

Visas: Families

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 September 2022 to Question 45506 on Visas: Applications, how many family reunion applications have been formally started and not decided; and how many have exceeded (a) the 60-day service standard, (b) six months and (c) one year; and if she will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: Information regarding processing times for family reunion applications is not routinely published and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. We are working outside the 60 working day service standard, with the majority of applications being considered at over double the service standard timescale.We are committed to improving and speeding up processing times for family reunion applications.In the year ending September 2022, 4,786 family reunion visas were issued to partners and children of those granted asylum or humanitarian protection, around a third (36%) fewer than the number in 2019. Additional information can be found here: How many people are detained or returned? - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)We will always prioritise applications where there is a particularly urgent or compelling reason to do so.

Asylum: Rwanda

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the implications for the UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership of the policy of the Rwandan government on the eviction of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Robert Jenrick: Rwanda has been recognised globally for its record in welcoming and integrating migrants and refugees, and our own comprehensive assessment as set out in the relevant country policy and information notes (CPINs) Rwanda is a safe and secure country. Our CPINs are kept under constant review and updated periodically on the Gov.uk website. Any decision to relocate a person to Rwanda will be made on a case-by-case basis and take into account their individual circumstances and relevant country information.

Visas: Ukraine

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 January 2023 to Question 111601 on Visas: Ukraine, whether her Department (a) has undertaken and (b) plans to undertake research on the reasons for which 55,500 Ukrainian visa holders have not arrived in the UK since their visas were issued.

Robert Jenrick: Between 14th July and 5th August 2022, the Home Office undertook an online survey aimed at understanding the situations and intentions of those people who held Ukraine Family Scheme or Homes for Ukraine visas, but who had not yet arrived in the UK.This survey was sent to all email addresses linked to adult visa holders under Ukraine Family Scheme or Homes for Ukraine, where Home Office data indicated that the holder had not yet arrived in the UK. The survey asked why respondents had not yet arrived in the UK – reasons included factors preventing them from going to the UK, facing difficulties getting to the UK, and preferring to stay in their current location.The full outputs of this survey have not been published because of concerns about data quality.

Windrush Compensation Scheme

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional resources to help the Windrush Compensation Scheme to process applications.

Robert Jenrick: The Windrush Compensation Scheme remains fully focused on reducing the time taken to process claims. The Scheme is committed to recruiting additional staff and is working to increase Decision Makers to 154, by June 2023. This resource will further speed up the consideration of claims and ensure that every claimant receives the maximum amount available to them at the earliest point possible.

Passports: Lost Property

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passports, by number rather than percentage, have been lost by the Passport Office in each year since 2018.

Robert Jenrick: The data held for secure delivery services does not break down losses by passports only. The table below shows the number and percentages of passports and supporting documents confirmed as lost in the possession of providers of secure delivery services for each year from 2018:  UKOverseas YearPassports IssuedDocuments Lost% of Documents LostPassports IssuedDocuments Lost% of Documents Lost20186,266,4874220.007%414,812870.02%20196,152,3841680.003%555,1161030.02%20203,354,6721110.003%593,388850.01%20214,391,0434850.011%432,4411570.04%20226,574,835487**0.007%381,424125***0.03% * The data held does not distinguish between items confirmed as ‘lost’, and those that declared as ‘stolen’.** Data currently held from 1 January to 30 September.*** Data currently held from 1 January to 31 October.

Counter-terrorism

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the list of stakeholders which responded to the Protect Duty consultation.

Tom Tugendhat: The Protect Duty consultation closed in July 2021. The consultation response was published in January 2022. As a result, the Home Secretary was pleased to announce the policy proposals for the Duty, now known as Martyn’s Law, in Parliament on the 19th December.The department will publish a list of organisations who responded to the Protect Duty consultation at the earliest opportunity on gov.uk.

Elbit Systems UK: Contracts

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether police forces have any contracts with Elbit Systems for (a) the provision of intelligence and (b) wider intelligence services.

Tom Tugendhat: The Home Office does not hold information on commercial arrangements by Police Forces.Enquiries indicate that there is no force expenditure for Elbit Systems. I caveat these findings given the covert and sensitive nature of the possible services or products by this supplier

Windrush Lessons Learned Review

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on implementing the 30 recommendations in the Windrush Lessons Learned Review independent review by Wendy Williams published in March 2020.

Robert Jenrick: Since the injustices of Windrush came to light, there has been a concerted effort across the Home Office to right the wrongs suffered by those affected. This work continues and the department is making sustained progress to deliver on the recommendations of the Lessons Learned Review (2020) and the commitments made in the Comprehensive Improvement Plan (2020).In her report last year, Wendy Williams concluded that 21 of her recommendations have been met or partially met. She acknowledged that the scale of the challenge she set the department was significant and that change on this scale takes time.We have made real progress in delivering against Wendy Williams’ recommendations:In October 2022, the Home Office established the Office for the Independent Examiner of Complaints, and followed a public appointment recruitment process, Moiram Ali was appointed as the Independent Examiner.The Home Office has also held over 200 engagement and outreach events across the country and the Windrush Help Teams have attended over 120 one-to-one surgeries to help people apply for documentation.As of the end of October 2022, the Home Office had paid out or offered £59.58m in compensation to Windrush victims. In June 2022, the ‘Serving Diverse Communities – Acting on Our Values’ learning package was launched across the Home Office, starting with Recommendations 24 and 29. The learning package for Recommendation 6 has been designed and will undergo final review prior to implementation.

Visas

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which individuals on the UK sanctions list (a) have and (b) have previously possessed Tier 1 (Investor) visas.

Tom Tugendhat: We do not routinely comment on the immigration status of individuals.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Answer to the hon. Member for Warley on 13 December 2022, Official Report, column 874, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Tom Tugendhat: While the UK Government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under review, we do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not being considered for proscription.We have long been clear about our concerns over the malign activity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The UK maintains sanctions on over 300 Iranian individuals and entities covering human rights abuses, nuclear proliferation and terrorism. The Government has also imposed sanctions on the IRGC in its entirety and on several senior security and political figures in Iran, including senior commanders within the IRGC and its Basij force.

Asylum: Hotels

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made on identifying non-hotel accommodation for Asylum seekers; and if she will provide a timetable for the decommissioning of hotel accommodation.

Robert Jenrick: The enduring solution to this challenge is to stop the illegal, dangerous and unnecessary small boat crossings that are overwhelming our asylum system. Not only is every crossing attempt a potential tragedy, as we have seen far too often, but the people arriving via these small boats have travelled through, and have left, safe countries with fully functioning asylum systems to reach the UK.We are taking a range of steps to reduce our dependency on hotels to support those already in the asylum system. All local authority areas in England, Scotland and Wales became an asylum dispersal area by default in April 2022. This is increasing the number of suitable properties that can be procured for destitute asylum seekers across the UK, ensuring a fair spread across the country and reducing our reliance on hotels. We also intend to bring forward a range of alternative sites, such as disused holiday parks, former student halls, and surplus military sites, to add thousands of places at half the cost of hotels.The Home Office is tackling the asylum legacy caseload so that people can exit the system, either by returning to their home country, or granting them asylum so they can begin to make a contribution to the UK. The Home Office has already increased the number of its asylum caseworkers from 597 in 2019/20 to more than 1,000 today, and we are on course to add a further 500 caseworkers by March 2023. We are also improving the productivity of these decision-makers by re-engineering the caseworking process from top to bottom. This includes conducting more focused interviews and streamlining and digitising the caseworking process.These reforms will speed up decision making, reduce the number of asylum seekers who are awaiting a decision and ease the pressure on local authorities by reducing our dependency on hotels and the number of asylum seekers accommodated in them.

Asylum: Hotels

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce the number of asylum-seekers housed in hotel accommodation.

Robert Jenrick: The enduring solution to this challenge is to stop the illegal, dangerous and unnecessary small boat crossings that are overwhelming our asylum system. Not only is every crossing attempt a potential tragedy, as we have seen far too often, but the people arriving via these small boats have travelled through, and have left, safe countries with fully functioning asylum systems to reach the UK.We are taking a range of steps to reduce our dependency on hotels to support those already in the asylum system. All local authority areas in England, Scotland and Wales became an asylum dispersal area by default in April 2022. This is increasing the number of suitable properties that can be procured for destitute asylum seekers across the UK, ensuring a fair spread across the country and reducing our reliance on hotels. We also intend to bring forward a range of alternative sites, such as disused holiday parks, former student halls, and surplus military sites, to add thousands of places at half the cost of hotels.The Home Office is tackling the asylum legacy caseload so that people can exit the system, either by returning to their home country, or granting them asylum so they can begin to make a contribution to the UK. The Home Office has already increased the number of its asylum caseworkers from 597 in 2019/20 to more than 1,000 today, and we are on course to add a further 500 caseworkers by March 2023. We are also improving the productivity of these decision-makers by re-engineering the caseworking process from top to bottom. This includes conducting more focused interviews and streamlining and digitising the caseworking process.These reforms will speed up decision making, reduce the number of asylum seekers who are awaiting a decision and ease the pressure on local authorities by reducing our dependency on hotels and the number of asylum seekers accommodated in them.

Windrush Compensation Scheme: Applications

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to introduce a closing date for applications to the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

Robert Jenrick: There are no plans to introduce a closing date for the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

Refugees: Resettlement

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2023 to Question 114728 on Asylum, what are the safe and legal resettlement routes available to refugees through the UK Resettlement Scheme.

Robert Jenrick: The UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) is a global scheme with a multi-year commitment to resettle vulnerable refugees in need of protection. The UKRS sits alongside the government’s other resettlement schemes, which include Community Sponsorship, the Mandate Scheme, and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). Under the UKRS, and Pathway 2 of the ACRS, refugees are assessed and referred by the UNHCR according to their criteria, which are based on at-risk people’s needs and vulnerabilities.

Immigration: Employment

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to promote the use of the Employer Checking System by employers.

Robert Jenrick: We have published guidance and a statutory code of practice for employers, which contains information on when to contact the Home Office Employer Checking Service (ECS).This information is kept up to date and can be accessed on GOV.UK at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-work-checks-employers-guidehttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/illegal-working-penalties-codes-of-practice-for-employers The Home Office engages regularly with a wide range of employers and their representative bodies either via established Home Office-led fora such as the Home Office consultation groups, as part of engagement with other government departments, or upon invitation to other events including webinars. We will continue to work closely with businesses to ensure processes are secure, accessible and employers understand their obligations and responsibilities concerning right to work checks and use of the ECS.

Fire and Rescue Services: Cancer

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of cancer among firefighters.

Chris Philp: The health and safety of firefighters is of great importance and employers must be mindful of the academic research in this area.Fire and Rescue Authorities are responsible for the health and safety of their employees. It is for individual fire and rescue authorities, as employers with responsibility for health and wellbeing, to ensure that firefighters receive the appropriate equipment and training they need to safely respond to the wide range of incidents which they attend. This includes working conditions inside fire stations where there are strict requirements for decontamination of personal protective equipment following incidents.The Home Office will be studying and considering this report carefully.

Fire and Rescue Services: Cancer

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has she made of the implications for her policies of findings of the study titled Scottish Firefighters Occupational Cancer and Disease Mortality Rates: 2000-2020 published 10 January 2023, which states that firefighters are far more likely to die from cancer and heart attacks than general public.

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the findings of the study on Scottish Firefighters Occupational Cancer and Disease Mortality Rates: 2000-2020 published on 10 January 2023, if she will hold discussions with (a) trade unions, (b) the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and (c) other Cabinet colleagues on cancer mortality among firefighters.

Chris Philp: The health and safety of firefighters is of great importance and employers must be mindful of the academic research in this area.Fire and Rescue Authorities are responsible for the health and safety of their employees. It is for individual fire and rescue authorities, as employers with responsibility for health and wellbeing, to ensure that firefighters receive the appropriate equipment and training they need to safely respond to the wide range of incidents which they attend. This includes working conditions inside fire stations where there are strict requirements for decontamination of personal protective equipment following incidents.The Home Office will be studying and considering this report carefully.

Immigration Controls: Airports

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure conformity in the administration of immigration controls at commercial airports.

Robert Jenrick: Immigration controls at commercial airports are operated in accordance with the Border Force Operating Mandate which is agreed with Ministers. Border Force has a national assurance framework that is designed to ensure adherence to policy and guidance and identify any inconsistency in practice or process across all operational areas.

Visas: Seasonal Workers

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s (ICIBI) report entitled An inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the agricultural sector, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the finding which indicated that for the seasonal worker visa schemes fewer than 97 per cent of sponsored workers who had obtained visas left the UK at the end of their permitted stay in 2021.

Robert Jenrick: As per our response in the report, we assessed the data set that the ICIBI were drawing on to be incomplete. Whilst there were indications of an instance of a Sponsor not meeting the 97% metric, there is further work to corroborate this with the Providers themselves. This can be found in paragraph 8.48 of the published report (An inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the agricultural sector May to August 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). The assessment of performance metrics of the seasonal worker labour providers is an ongoing rolling process, but where we do find any that have been breached, robust action will be taken against their licence to operate.

Water: Safety

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to initiate public information announcements across appropriate media warning of the danger of walking or playing on ice over waterways and ponds.

Chris Philp: The Home Office is not responsible for water safety.Fire and Rescue Services may make local decisions to publish water safety information according to local circumstances or need.

Animal Experiments: Animal Breeding

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ban commercial breeding for use in animal testing; and if she will make a statement.

Tom Tugendhat: Scientific research using animals plays a vital part in our understanding of how biological systems work in health and disease. This brings benefits for human and animal healthcare, public safety, and the environment. The commercial breeding of animals for use in regulatory testing is primarily to support the safety of new medicines.The Government is committed to the protection and welfare of animals and ensuring that animals are only ever used in science where there are no alternatives.Government policy is to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of techniques that Replace, Reduce and Refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). This is achieved through funding UK Research and Investment who fund the National Centre for the 3Rs and fund further research through Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council into the development of alternatives.

Abortion: Demonstrations

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has provided guidance to the police on making assessments of whether a Public Spaces Protection Order around an abortion clinic has been breached in respect of prayer.

Chris Philp: In June 2022 the Government published updated statutory guidance on the use of Antisocial Behaviour powers, including Public Spaces Protection Orders. This can be found here - Anti-social behaviour powers (publishing.service.gov.uk).Decisions regarding the imposition of Public Space Protection Orders, and what restrictions are included are matters for the local authority which is required to consider people’s rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.The enforcement of Public Space Protection Orders is a matter for the local authority and other relevant local partners, including the police, in line with wider human rights considerations.

Biometric Residence Permits

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average wait time was for a person who has had their biometric residence permit lost or stolen to receive a replacement in the last 12 months.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the amount of time taken for a replacement biometric residence permit to be issued.

Robert Jenrick: The information is not available publicly and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s (ICIBI) report entitled An inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the agricultural sector, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the comments in that report that (a) front-line Home Office compliance staff confirmed that there was a lack of follow-up, with some explaining that they were very reactive and (b) staff did not know what happened with the reports or whether the issues were reported to more senior officials.

Robert Jenrick: As outlined in our acceptance of ICBI recommendations, the Department intends to form a dedicated team to monitor the operational immigration elements of the scheme. This will include introducing new guidance and training, recruitment of specialist staff, and an enhanced use of intelligence.The Department will produce a communications and engagement roadmap which will be completed by April 2023.We will also prepare a document setting out the roles and responsibilities of various Home Office units involved with the Seasonal Worker route. This will be completed by July 2023.

Members: Correspondence

Kevin Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2022 to Question 108259 on Members: Correspondence, when she plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Torbay of 5 December 2022.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office replied on 13 December 2022.

Members: Correspondence

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will respond to correspondence of (a) 11 October 2022, (b) 14 November 2022 and (c) 15 December 2022 from the Hon. member for Basildon and Billericay on a constituent, reference JB39171.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office responded to the hon. Member’s correspondence on 12 January 2023.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Leasehold: Battersea

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help enfranchised leaseholders in Battersea constituency with uncapped costs of fixing building safety defects.

Lee Rowley: The leaseholder protection provisions in the Building Safety Act 2022 provided for the transfer of responsibility for the costs of remediating building safety defects from the leaseholder to the freeholder and developer. These provisions do not apply if the building is collectively owned by the leaseholders, for example, buildings where the leaseholders have collectively enfranchised and set up a company to purchase the freehold. This is because the enfranchised company effectively is the freeholder. The department published a call for evidence on leaseholder-owned buildings, which closed on 14 November 2022 and is now collating and analysing the evidence.We will shortly publish the final remediation contract that we expect developers to sign, committing them to remediate building-safety defects for which they are responsible. Enfranchised leaseholders living in buildings covered by the developer pledge will be protected from the cost of remedying life-critical safety defects arising from the building’s design and/or construction. Furthermore, leaseholders in buildings over 11m tall are protected from the costs of remediating unsafe cladding even where their developer has not signed the contract, as costs can be met from the Building Safety Fund or from the Medium-Rise Fund, which will open to all relevant buildings later this year. This includes enfranchised leaseholders.

Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla: Finance

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to provide additional funds to local authorities to cover costs associated with the Coronation.

Lee Rowley: A national programme of celebration is planned around the occasion of the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III. As with previous national events such as Her late Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee in 2022, community activity is expected to be supported through existing budgets or sources.The department will share guidance and resources from DCMS through our regular channels, and champion local activity across the UK. Any further announcements will be made in the usual way.

Local Plans

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will (a) withdraw or (b) extend the requirement for local authorities to have up-to-date Local Plans in place by December 2023.

Lucy Frazer: The government's current consultation: 'The Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy' sets out the proposed timeline for transitioning to the new system of plan making, which we expect to go live in late 2024.

Affordable Housing: North East

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many homes in (a) Newcastle Central and (b) the North East are classed as affordable housing in the most recent available figures.

Lucy Frazer: Figures are not centrally collected by the department at parliamentary constituency level.Estimates of dwelling stock by tenure for each year, in England and the North East region are shown in Live Table 109 at the following link.

Music Venues: Planning

John Nicolson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to make (a) the Music Venue Trust and (b) other charities statutory planning consultees.

Lucy Frazer: The list of statutory consultees is under constant review. Whilst particular organisations or bodies might not be statutory consultees on planning applications, they can work proactively with local councils to identify developments where they might have an interest and can comment on proposals within the statutory public consultation period. The decision to grant or refuse a planning application ultimately rests with the local planning authority, who will take into account all relevant planning considerations and not just the advice from one consultee.

Property Management Companies

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of his Department's policies on protecting residents from unscrupulous management companies; and whether he plans to take further steps to protect residents.

Lucy Frazer: I refer my Rt. Hon. Friend to the answer I gave to Question UIN 114795 on 13 January 2023.

Research: North East

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Devolution Deal for the North East published on 28 December 2022, whether the funding announced includes funding for research and development.

Dehenna Davison: The North East devolution deal commits the government and the region to take further steps to strengthen the North East's local innovation capacity, to help realise the potential of local innovation assets and the innovation potential of small and medium enterprises. The deal includes a £1.44 billion investment fund over 30 years. It will be for the new mayor and combined authority to decide how best to spend this money.

Freeport East: Ipswich

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has made estimate of the number of jobs that will be created for Ipswich residents by the Freeport East project.

Dehenna Davison: Details of the number of jobs that the Freeport East project is estimated to contribute to can be found here.

Parking: Fees and Charges

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of parking companies charging for parking using mobile technology on people who do not have access to this technology; and whether he will take steps to require alternate payment methods to be made available.

Dehenna Davison: The Government is taking action to improve the regulation of the private parking industry. My department is currently implementing the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, including the development of an independent Code of Practice that sets out straightforward rules that private parking companies must follow.

Social Rented Housing: Standards

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to take steps to require that social housing providers undertake a housing conditions assessment for their properties.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has provided guidance on how long a provider of (a) social and (b) private rented housing should take to remove (i) mould and (ii) damp from a property.

Felicity Buchan: The Secretary of State recently wrote to social housing providers to make it clear that where people complain about damp and mould, they must take prompt action. The Regulator of Social Housing has also written to landlords to provide information on their approach to damp and mould.Information on how local councils should use their enforcement powers can be found in our Rogue Landlord Enforcement Guidance.

Gazumping

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Answer given on 14 December 2022 to Question 87813, on Gazumping, whether the evaluation of the effectiveness of voluntary reservation agreements mentioned in that Answer has been completed; and what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing voluntary reservation agreements in the home buying and selling process.

Lucy Frazer: Announcements will be made in the usual way.

Local Government

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress he has made on establishing the Office for Local Government.

Lee Rowley: We will share more details about our plans to set up the Office for Local Government, including the appointment of a Chair, in due course. Engagement and co-design with the local government sector and government departments is a priority.

Scotland Office

European Union: Scotland

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether his Department has made an assessment of attitudes towards the EU of people in Scotland.

Mr Alister Jack: I recently made clear in Parliament my view that people in Scotland should understand the difficulties an independent Scotland would face in re-entering the EU in terms of currency, deficit thresholds, pensions and many other issues.

Scotland Office: Written Questions

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what proportion of (a) ordinary and (b) named-day written questions their Department answered on time in 2022.

Mr Alister Jack: From 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022, the Scotland Office answered the following proportion of written parliamentary questions on time:(a) Ordinary PQs – 100%(b) Named Day PQs – 100%

Cabinet Office

Immigration: Children

Sarah Champion: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many secondary school-age children migrated to the UK in the last year; and what proportion of those children were girls.

Jeremy Quin: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 10 January is attached. UKSA Response to 120113 (pdf, 137.4KB)

Government Departments: Billing

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average payment time is for each Governmental department for invoices submitted by SMEs as of 10 January 2023.

Alex Burghart: The Government does not currently require departments to publish the average time taken to pay invoices to SMEs. However, departments do publish information on the overall percentage of invoices paid within 5 to 30 days. As of the end of the last financial year, 13 out of 16 departments were paying over 85% of all invoices within 5 days, and 14 of 16 departments were paying in excess of 95% of their invoices within 30 days.The Procurement Bill currently progressing through the Commons contains a Clause (68) that will require all contracting authorities to publish specified information relating to invoice payments. It is intended that the average time taken to pay an invoice will be one of those specified pieces of information.

Treasury

Treasury: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2022 to Question 110630 on Treasury: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, how many individuals were accommodated at the (a) Hotel Danieli and (b) Hotel Bonvecchiati on the nights in question; and whether his predecessor paid for his own accommodation when staying in Venice on 9 July 2021.

James Cartlidge: As has been the case under successive Administrations, including the last Labour Government, when Ministers and officials travel on official business, their travel expenses (including overnight accommodation) are funded by their department. This was for a meeting of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. The choice of location and recommended hotels was determined by the Italian Government Secretariat, which held the G20 Presidency that year. 12 government representatives in total stayed in these hotels on official business to represent the United Kingdom at the G20 meeting. Further information on what was delivered at the meeting, including progress on global tax reform and climate-related financial disclosures, can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-welcomes-milestone-g20-progress-on-global-tax-reform

Research: Business

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2022 to Question 110697 on Research: Business, if he will publish the calculations for his Department's estimation that the total level of research and development-related business investment in the economy will remain unchanged; and whether that estimation is partly based on a projected increase in investment through the RDEC scheme.

Victoria Atkins: As part of the ongoing R&D tax reliefs review, the Government is reforming the R&D tax reliefs to ensure taxpayer’s money is spent as effectively as possible, to improve the competitiveness of the RDEC scheme, and is a step towards a simplified, single RDEC-like scheme for all. The Treasury has estimated the changes will also help to support fiscal sustainability by raising revenue and reducing fraud and error, without materially changing the levels of R&D expenditure over the forecast period. The OBR certified the package of measures at the Autumn Statement 2022 had no net material impact on the capital stock forecast.

Tax Evasion: Criminal Investigation

Sarah Olney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the Government spent on tax compliance cases in each of the last five financial years.

Victoria Atkins: Indicative figures from HMRC are on the GOV.UK website here: Annual reports and accounts published by HMRC - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Retail Trade: VAT

Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on VAT shopping at airports of the report by Oxford Economics entitled Assessing the impact of tax-free shopping in the UK, published in November 2022; and if he will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to re-establish the policy.

James Cartlidge: The Chancellor announced on 17 October 2022 that the Government will not be proceeding with plans to introduce a new VAT-free shopping scheme. This decision was included as part of the reversal of almost all of the tax measures set out in the Growth Plan on 23 September which were not legislated for in Parliament. The Chancellor has taken these decisions to ensure the UK’s economic stability and to provide confidence in the Government’s commitment to fiscal discipline. The Chancellor made clear in his statement that the UK’s public finances must be on a sustainable path into the medium term.Introducing VAT-free shopping would come at a significant fiscal cost as it would subsidise a large amount of tourist spending which already occurs without a tax relief in place.The independent Office for Budget Responsibility published their assessment of the withdrawal of the previous VAT-free shopping schemes in November 2020. This showed that the withdrawal of VAT-free shopping would raise a significant amount of revenue and have a limited behavioural effect on decisions to visit, or spend, in the UK. Nonetheless, the Government keeps all taxes under review and considers all available evidence as part of the policy-making process.

Universal Credit: Northern Ireland

Stephen Farry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the Barnett Consequentials Northern Ireland will receive for staffing for the Move to Universal Credit programme in (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25.

John Glen: The Barnett formula determines changes in the Northern Ireland Executive’s funding, not the overall funding, and is applied at departmental level at Spending Reviews. Barnett consequentials don’t therefore generally reflect the funding provided to the Northern Ireland Executive in relation to specific programmes or projects. The Block Grant Transparency publication sets out the breakdown of Barnett consequentials for the Northern Ireland Executive. In relation to the Move to Universal Credit Programme, the Barnett formula has been applied as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy. Funding for this programme fed into overall Barnett-based funding for the Northern Ireland Executive set at the Spending Review 2021.

Royal Mint: Non-fungible Tokens

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Treasury still plans to create a Royal Mint non-fungible token.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the Treasury has spent to-date on the creation of a Royal Mint non-fungible token; and if he will provide a breakdown of that spend by (a) staff time and resource, (b) development, (c) marketing and (d) other relevant costs.

Andrew Griffith: An update on this work will be provided in due course.

Minimum Wage: Convictions

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many company directors have been convicted of a criminal offence under section 31 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 in each of the last 12 years.

Victoria Atkins: The Government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) receives it. HMRC continues to crack down on employers who ignore the law, ensuring that workers receive the wages they are entitled to. A majority of NMW cases are subject to civil (non-criminal) sanctions, which include penalties of up to 200 per cent of the arrears, and public naming. Prosecutions are reserved for the most serious offences. They can cause delays in recovering arrears for workers and do not necessarily guarantee payment. The data held by HMRC does not provide further breakdown as to the legal position of the individual who has been convicted of a criminal offence under section 31 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998. Full details of criminal prosecutions from 2007/2008 to 2020/2021 are provided as supplementary data (Table 13) to the annual report “National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage: Government evidence on enforcement and compliance, 2021”, published in May 2022. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-living-wage-and-national-minimum-wage-government-evidence-on-enforcement-and-compliance-2021.

VAT

Sarah Olney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much VAT has been collected in each of the last 12 quarters.

Victoria Atkins: VAT receipts data can be found in the publication HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK, in column J of the statistics table.

Treasury: Brexit

Sarah Olney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many customer compliance staff in his Department were assigned to EU exit work in each of the last 3 years.

Victoria Atkins: HMRC takes a flexible and dynamic approach to resourcing in order to achieve their objectives. Consequently, there are a number of officials that move between teams when required and the numbers of staff fluctuate. Customer Compliance Group staff (Full Time Equivalent) FTE assigned to EU exit work2019-201,8942020-211,7122021-221,043

Research: Small Businesses

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2022 to Question 110697 on Research: Business, whether his Department has made an estimate of the difference between the additional incentivised research and development that was invested by the (a) the Research and Development Expenditure Credit scheme and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2022 to Question 110697 on Research: Business, for what reason the projected additional incentivised research and development for the SME scheme spans from £0.60 to £1.28.

Victoria Atkins: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has an ongoing evaluation programme that includes recent evaluations of the impact of the two R&D tax reliefs on business spending, which is known as additionality. The ‘additionality ratio’ of each scheme is a measure of additional R&D expenditure generated for each additional pound of tax foregone. The latest evaluation of the Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC) scheme estimated an additionality ratio of between 2.4 and 2.7 for regular claimants, indicating that every £1 foregone in tax revenue stimulates between £2.40 and £2.70 of R&D expenditure. The latest evaluation of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) estimated an additionality ratio of the UK SME scheme of 0.75 and 1.28 for ‘deduction claims’, and 0.60 and 1.00 for ‘credit claims’, indicating that every £1 foregone in tax revenue stimulates between £0.6 and £1.28 of R&D expenditure. Further detail on the additionality ratios for both schemes and the methodology used to calculate these ratios can be found in the following evaluation reports: RDEC: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/934270/Evaluation_report_-_R_D_RDEC.pdf SME scheme: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/935191/HMRC_Research_Report_598_R-and-D_tax_relief_for_SMEs.pdf The Government’s review of the R&D tax reliefs is ongoing and any further measures will be announced in due course.

Pensions: Tax Allowances

Darren Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the amount of money that can be withdrawn from a pension scheme tax-free in any one financial year.

Andrew Griffith: The government has increased the Personal Allowance (PA), the amount of income an individual does not have to pay income tax on, by over 40% in real terms since 2010. The PA at £12,570 is high by international standards – it is one of the most generous tax allowances in the OECD and highest in the G7. The government wishes to encourage personal saving, to help ensure that people have income, or funds on which they can draw, throughout retirement. This is why, for the majority of savers, pension contributions are tax-free.

Large Goods Vehicles: Customs

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2023 to Question 119145 on Large Goods Vehicles: Customs, what the (a) start and (b) destination was of the vehicles affected.

Victoria Atkins: The Goods Vehicle Movement Service is used at locations handling movements between the United Kingdom and the European Union. HMRC does not hold information on all of the movements that were affected by the disruption to the Goods Vehicle Movement Service as they were not alerted to every instance a vehicle was affected by the issue. Most goods were able to move normally.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Gambling: Advertising

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Gambling Commission’s ability to assess the conduct of licensed operators and their subsidiaries overseas when making an assessment of compliance with online advertising rules contained in its Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice.

Paul Scully: All gambling companies providing gambling facilities to consumers in Great Britain, wherever they are based, must be licensed by the Gambling Commission and comply with the conditions and codes of practice of their operating licences. They are also held accountable by the Commission for the actions of their commercial partners, such as overseas operators marketed under a different brand for whom they provide services to customers based in Great Britain as part of a ‘white label’ agreement. Licensees are expected to carry out all necessary due diligence to ensure these agreements will not compromise their own regulatory compliance.All licensed operators must ensure their marketing activities and those of their commercial partners are socially responsible, never targeted at children or vulnerable people, and compliant with the UK Advertising Codes set by the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) and enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ASA can refer operators to the Gambling Commission which can and does take enforcement action for non-compliance with the Codes.The government is closely considering issues around gambling advertising, marketing and sponsorship, and the powers and resources of the Gambling Commission, as part of its wide-ranging Review of the Gambling Act. We will publish a White Paper setting out our conclusions and next steps in the coming weeks.

Gambling

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2022 on Gambling, on what date the Gambling Act White Paper will be published.

Paul Scully: The Gambling Act Review is wide-ranging and aims to ensure gambling regulation is fit for the digital age. We will publish a White Paper setting out our conclusions and next steps in the coming weeks.

Semiconductors: Manufacturing Industries

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to help support a globally competitive semiconductor manufacturing sector in the UK.

Paul Scully: On behalf of the government, DCMS has been reviewing its approach to the UK’s global semiconductor sector and intends to set out its support for the sector in the forthcoming UK Semiconductor Strategy. This will build on existing HMG support for innovation and infrastructure such as the Driving the Electronic Revolution challenge and the National Epitaxy Facility, amongst others.Domestically, the government is exploring how we can further support the UK semiconductor industry, protecting and growing existing UK capabilities, and seizing new opportunities - including in semiconductor design, compound chips, and academic research in related fields. We are also collaborating closely with international partners to capitalise and strengthen the UK’s competitive advantage and improve long term resilience within the global semiconductor ecosystem, recognising that the challenges facing the sector cannot be solved by the UK alone.

Semiconductors: Manufacturing Industries

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of building a semiconductor fabrication facility to meet demand for semiconductors within UK industries.

Paul Scully: On behalf of the government, DCMS has been reviewing the UK semiconductor sector, and intends to set out more detail in the forthcoming UK Semiconductor Strategy; this has been developed by engaging with industry experts, representative bodies and the wider global community.The Government recognises that the UK’s approach to the semiconductor sector should look to support and build on our existing strengths domestically, and is considering efficient interventions. The Government is in the process of commissioning a feasibility study that will explore the potential of developing or upgrading infrastructure across the UK’s semiconductor ecosystem, in order to better support innovation and growth.Due to the inherently global nature of semiconductor supply chains it will remain vital that the UK works closely with our international partners in order to guarantee and safeguard the security of our chip supply, this is a central pillar of the government’s approach to the sector.

Football: Finance

Antony Higginbotham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support lower league clubs with maintaining stable finances.

Stuart Andrew: The Government published its response to the recommendations made by the Independent Fan-Led Review of Football Governance in April 2022. The Government recognises the need for the long-term financial sustainability of football clubs, including those in the lower leagues. The Government will publish a White Paper on Football Governance reforms imminently, to set out our detailed plans to improve the financial stability and governance of football clubs across all leagues.In addition, throughout the pandemic the Government offered substantial financial support to many football clubs at the National League level through the Sports Survival Package, to ensure their survival throughout the difficult period. Many clubs would have failed without that support.

Women and Equalities

Gender Recognition: Scotland

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she plans to issue guidance on the functioning of the Gender Recognition Reform Act 2022 in Scotland with the Equality Act 2010 in regards to (a) provisions for single sex exemptions and (b) any cross-border issues arising.

Stuart Andrew: On 17 January, the Secretary of State for Scotland made an order under section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998, preventing the Scottish Parliament’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from proceeding to Royal Assent.This was done after thorough and careful consideration of all the relevant advice and the policy implications. This legislation would have an adverse impact on the operation of Great Britain-wide equalities legislation.Transgender people deserve our respect, support and understanding. The decision was about the legislation’s consequences for the operation of GB-wide equalities protections and other reserved matters.We will continue to engage with the Scottish Government in good faith on this matter.

Conversion Therapy

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent progress the Government has made on banning conversion practices.

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities,  when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ban conversion practices.

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether the upcoming Conversion Therapy Bill will support the aims of the Online Safety Bill in preventing online harms.

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if the Government plans for the upcoming Conversion Therapy Bill to prohibit the advertising of conversion practices.

Stuart Andrew: The Government is committed to protecting people from these practices.We are carefully considering the responses to the public consultation on banning conversion practices which closed last year.We will be publishing a draft bill to ban conversion practices for pre-legislative scrutiny in this parliamentary session. We hope to send it to a Joint Committee for scrutiny and will work with the Liaison Committee accordingly.In the meantime, we have launched a support service open to all victims and those at risk of conversion practices regardless of their background or circumstances, backed by up to £360,000 over three years.

Medical Treatments Abroad: Gender Recognition

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to Written Ministerial Statement HCWS482, made on 9 January, what criteria the Government will use to remove countries from the list of approved overseas countries and territories provided for under Section 1(1)(b) of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to Written Ministerial Statement HCWS482, made on 9 January, whether the criteria the Government will use to remove countries from the list of approved overseas countries and territories provided for under Section 1(1)(b) of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 will mirror those used in 2011.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to Written Ministerial Statement HCWS482, made on 9 January, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of removing countries from the approved overseas countries and territories provided for under Section 1(1)(b) of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 on transgender people living in the UK with Gender Recognition Certificates from countries and territories where de-medicalised processes of gender recognition exist.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what the reasons are for the time taken to update the approved overseas countries and territories listed under Section 1(1)b of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

Stuart Andrew: In 2020 the Government concluded a review of the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) following a consultation in 2018. It remains the Government’s view that the balance struck in the legislation is correct in that there are proper checks and balances in the system and also support for people who want to change their legal sex.The policy of the UK Government since the passage of the Gender Recognition Act in 2004 has been to enable people with legal gender recognition from overseas countries whose systems are considered to be at least as rigorous to benefit from the simpler track for a UK Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). The list was last updated in 2011 and a commitment was made to keeping it under review. There are now a number of countries and territories on the list who have made changes to their processes and would not now be considered to have at least as rigorous systems. An update is therefore required. Since the announcement in 2020, the Government prioritised making changes to the GRC process to make it modern and affordable. Applicants for a GRC are now only required to pay £5, making the process more affordable, and the newly developed digital application process for GRCs launched on 29 June last year.It should not be possible for a person who would not satisfy the criteria to obtain UK legal gender recognition to use the overseas recognition route to obtain a UK Gender Recognition Certificate. This would damage the integrity and credibility of the process of the GRA. The Government is committed to ensuring that this outcome of the GRA consultation is followed through and upheld, and the overseas list will be updated via Statutory Instrument more regularly in future.We are undertaking a thorough investigation to verify our understanding of each overseas system in question, and comparing overseas systems with the UK’s requirements. We are finalising details of overseas countries and territories to be removed from the list via an affirmative Statutory Instrument. This follows similar processes to the 2011 update.People who have received UK GRCs already on the basis of legal gender recognition from a country on the list will not be affected - the change will not have retrospective effect. More widely, anyone can apply for a UK GRC through the UK standard route, irrespective of whether they already have legal gender recognition from overseas.As is standard practice, we are conducting an equality impact assessment alongside the development of the Statutory Instrument to inform decision-making.